Promoter occupancy of the basal class I transcription factor A differs strongly between active and silent VSG expression sites in Trypanosoma brucei.

ABSTRACT: Monoallelic expression within a gene family is found in pathogens exhibiting antigenic variation and in mammalian olfactory neurons. Trypanosoma brucei, a lethal parasite living in the human bloodstream, expresses variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) from 1 of 15 bloodstream expression sites (BESs) by virtue of a multifunctional RNA polymerase I. The active BES is transcribed in an extranucleolar compartment termed the expression site body (ESB), whereas silent BESs, located elsewhere within the nucleus, are repressed epigenetically. The regulatory mechanisms, however, are poorly understood. Here we show that two essential subunits of the basal class I transcription factor A (CITFA) predominantly occupied the promoter of the active BES relative to that of a silent BES, a phenotype that was m

SUBMITTER: Nguyen TN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3950698 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature