Project description:Investigation of whole genome gene expression level changes in Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 delta-PfPuf2 mutant, compared to the wild-type strain 3D7. The mutation engineered into this strain render tanslational control. The mutants analyzed in this study are further described in Miao J, Li J, Fan Q, Li X, Li X, Cui L.2010. The Puf-family RNA-binding protein PfPuf2 regulates sexual development and sex differentiation in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. J Cell Sci. 123(7):1039-49 (PMID 20197405).
Project description:Investigation of whole genome gene expression level changes in Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 delta-PfPuf2 mutant, compared to the wild-type strain 3D7. The mutation engineered into this strain render tanslational control. The mutants analyzed in this study are further described in Miao J, Li J, Fan Q, Li X, Li X, Cui L.2010. The Puf-family RNA-binding protein PfPuf2 regulates sexual development and sex differentiation in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. J Cell Sci. 123(7):1039-49 (PMID 20197405). A 12 chip study using total RNA recovered from six separate wild-type cultures of Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 at gametocyte stage III (three cultures) and stage V (three cultures) and six separate cultures of dalta PfPuf2 mutant at gametocyte stage III (three cultures) and stage V (three cultures). Each chip measures the expression level of 5,367 genes from Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 with 45-60 mer probes with two replicates on final array of 71618 probes.
Project description:The malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum replicates via schizogony: a fundamentally unusual type of cell cycle involving asynchronous replication of multiple nuclei within the same cytoplasm. It also has one of the most A/T-biased genomes ever sequenced. Here, we present the first comprehensive study of the specification and activation of DNA replication origins during Plasmodium schizogony. Potential replication origins were found to be abundant, with ORC1-binding sites detected every ~800 bp throughout the genome. They had no motif enrichment, but were biased towards areas of higher G/C content. Origin activation was then measured at single-molecule resolution via DNAscent technology, and was much less dense than ORC1-binding sites, with origins activated preferentially in areas of low transcriptional activity. Consistently, replication forks moved slowest through the most highly transcribed genes, suggesting that conflicts between transcription and origin firing inhibit efficient replication, and that P. falciparum has evolved its S-phase to minimise such conflicts.
