Complexity of the MSG gene family of Pneumocystis carinii.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The relationship between the parasitic fungus Pneumocystis carinii and its host, the laboratory rat, presumably involves features that allow the fungus to circumvent attacks by the immune system. It is hypothesized that the major surface glycoprotein (MSG) gene family endows Pneumocystis with the capacity to vary its surface. This gene family is comprised of approximately 80 genes, which each are approximately 3 kb long. Expression of the MSG gene family is regulated by a cis-dependent mechanism that involves a unique telomeric site in the genome called the expression site. Only the MSG gene adjacent to the expression site is represented by messenger RNA. Several P. carinii MSG genes have been sequenced, which showed that genes in the family can encode distinct isoforms

SUBMITTER: Keely SP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2743713 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature