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Regulation Of Gene Expression In Trypanosoma Brucei, Tim Nicolai Siegel
Regulation Of Gene Expression In Trypanosoma Brucei, Tim Nicolai Siegel
Student Theses and Dissertations
The protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei is one of the most divergent well-studied eukaryotes and many discoveries of general interest have been made in T. brucei. Atypical for a eukaryote, in T. brucei genes transcribed by RNA polymerase II (RNA pol II) are arranged in polycistronic transcription units (PTUs). mRNAs are separated post-transcriptionally by coupled splicing and polyadenylation reactions. During the splicing reaction a 39 nt ‘sliced-leader’ is added to every mRNA, a process termed trans splicing. The arrangement of generally unrelated genes in PTUs has lead to the assumption that little gene regulation occurs at the level of transcription initiation …
Proteomic, Bioinformatic And Functional Characterization Of The Nuclear Pore Complex Of The African Trypanosome, Jeffrey Allen Degrasse
Proteomic, Bioinformatic And Functional Characterization Of The Nuclear Pore Complex Of The African Trypanosome, Jeffrey Allen Degrasse
Student Theses and Dissertations
The eukaryotic genome, and its associated proteins, is intricately packaged and sequestered within the boundary of a double membrane, known as the nuclear envelope (NE). Transport across the NE is mediated by large protein assemblages known as nuclear pore complexes (NPCs). Yeast and vertebrate NPCs are comprised of about 30 proteins, termed nucleoporins (Nups), which are present in multiple copies. The origins and evolution of the nucleus and NPC are not yet clear, although it seems likely that the nucleus arose only once in eukaryotic evolution. To further our understanding of the evolution of the NPC, we characterized the NPC …
Telomere Structure And Shortening In Telomerase-Deficient Trypanosoma Brucei: Implications For Anitgenic Variation, Oliver Dreesen
Telomere Structure And Shortening In Telomerase-Deficient Trypanosoma Brucei: Implications For Anitgenic Variation, Oliver Dreesen
Student Theses and Dissertations
A variety of parasites persist in their host through sequential expression of variant surface antigens. Intriguingly, the genes encoding these antigens are frequently found adjacent to the telomeres. Telomeres are nucleoprotein complexes consisting of tandem DNA repeats and proteins that bind to them. Their function is to protect chromosome ends from the DNA repair machinery that would otherwise recognize them as double-stranded breaks. With the help of the ribonucleoprotein telomerase they compensate for the gradual sequence loss that would otherwise arise from the inability of conventional DNA polymerases to replicate chromosome ends. In Trypanosoma brucei, the causative agent of African …