Skip to main content
PMC home page
Nucleic Acids Research logoLink to Nucleic Acids Research
. 1984 Jun 11;12(11):4431–4443. doi: 10.1093/nar/12.11.4431

Comparison of the genes coding for the common 5' terminal sequence of messenger RNAs in three trypanosome species.

T De Lange, T M Berkvens, H J Veerman, A C Frasch, J D Barry, P Borst
PMCID: PMC318848  PMID: 6204273

Abstract

Messenger RNAs of Trypanosoma brucei share a common 5' terminal sequence of 35 nucleotides, encoded by a mini-exon located in 1.35-kb tandemly linked repeats. We show here that sequences, almost identical to the mini-exon of T. brucei, are present in mRNAs from members of two other kinetoplastid subgenera: Trypanosoma vivax and Trypanosoma cruzi. As in T. brucei, these mini-exons are encoded by small tandemly linked repeat elements. We have determined and compared the nucleotide sequences of the mini-exon repeats from T. brucei, T. vivax and T. cruzi. This analysis shows that the mini-exon, its immediate flanking sequences and a T-rich stretch downstream are conserved, but little else. Our data establish the generality of the novel transcription system, that was first found in T. brucei and that yields mRNAs with common, repeat-encoded, 5' termini.

Full text

PDF
4431

Images in this article

4434Image
on p.4434
4436Image
on p.4436
4436Image
on p.4436

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. BONE G. J., STEINERT M. Isotopes incorporated in the nucleic acids of Trypanosoma mega. Nature. 1956 Aug 11;178(4528):308–309. doi: 10.1038/178308a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bernards A., De Lange T., Michels P. A., Liu A. Y., Huisman M. J., Borst P. Two modes of activation of a single surface antigen gene of Trypanosoma brucei. Cell. 1984 Jan;36(1):163–170. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90085-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bernards A., Van der Ploeg L. H., Frasch A. C., Borst P., Boothroyd J. C., Coleman S., Cross G. A. Activation of trypanosome surface glycoprotein genes involves a duplication-transposition leading to an altered 3' end. Cell. 1981 Dec;27(3 Pt 2):497–505. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(81)90391-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Boothroyd J. C., Cross G. A. Transcripts coding for variant surface glycoproteins of Trypanosoma brucei have a short, identical exon at their 5' end. Gene. 1982 Dec;20(2):281–289. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(82)90046-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Borst P., Bernards A., van der Ploeg L. H., Michels P. A., Liu A. Y., de Lange T., Kooter J. M. The control of variant surface antigen synthesis in trypanosomes. Eur J Biochem. 1983 Dec 15;137(3):383–389. doi: 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1983.tb07840.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Cross G. A. Identification, purification and properties of clone-specific glycoprotein antigens constituting the surface coat of Trypanosoma brucei. Parasitology. 1975 Dec;71(3):393–417. doi: 10.1017/s003118200004717x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. De Lange T., Liu A. Y., Van der Ploeg L. H., Borst P., Tromp M. C., Van Boom J. H. Tandem repetition of the 5' mini-exon of variant surface glycoprotein genes: a multiple promoter for VSG gene transcription? Cell. 1983 Oct;34(3):891–900. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90546-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Englund P. T., Hajduk S. L., Marini J. C. The molecular biology of trypanosomes. Annu Rev Biochem. 1982;51:695–726. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.51.070182.003403. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Fairlamb A. H., Weislogel P. O., Hoeijmakers J. H., Borst P. Isolation and characterization of kinetoplast DNA from bloodstream form of Trypanosoma brucei. J Cell Biol. 1978 Feb;76(2):293–309. doi: 10.1083/jcb.76.2.293. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Grosveld F. G., Dahl H. H., de Boer E., Flavell R. A. Isolation of beta-globin-related genes from a human cosmid library. Gene. 1981 Apr;13(3):227–237. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(81)90028-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Hanahan D. Studies on transformation of Escherichia coli with plasmids. J Mol Biol. 1983 Jun 5;166(4):557–580. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(83)80284-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Hoeijmakers J. H., Borst P., van den Burg J., Weissmann C., Cross G. A. The isolation of plasmids containing DNA complementary to messenger RNA for variant surface glycoproteins of Trypanosoma brucei. Gene. 1980 Mar;8(4):391–417. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(80)90043-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Liu A. Y., Van der Ploeg L. H., Rijsewijk F. A., Borst P. The transposition unit of variant surface glycoprotein gene 118 of Trypanosoma brucei. Presence of repeated elements at its border and absence of promoter-associated sequences. J Mol Biol. 1983 Jun 15;167(1):57–75. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(83)80034-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Maxam A. M., Gilbert W. Sequencing end-labeled DNA with base-specific chemical cleavages. Methods Enzymol. 1980;65(1):499–560. doi: 10.1016/s0076-6879(80)65059-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Michels P. A., Liu A. Y., Bernards A., Sloof P., Van der Bijl M. M., Schinkel A. H., Menke H. H., Borst P., Veeneman G. H., Tromp M. C. Activation of the genes for variant surface glycoproteins 117 and 118 in Trypanosoma brucei. J Mol Biol. 1983 Jun 5;166(4):537–556. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(83)80283-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Mount S. M. A catalogue of splice junction sequences. Nucleic Acids Res. 1982 Jan 22;10(2):459–472. doi: 10.1093/nar/10.2.459. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Nelson R. G., Parsons M., Barr P. J., Stuart K., Selkirk M., Agabian N. Sequences homologous to the variant antigen mRNA spliced leader are located in tandem repeats and variable orphons in trypanosoma brucei. Cell. 1983 Oct;34(3):901–909. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90547-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Sanger F., Nicklen S., Coulson A. R. DNA sequencing with chain-terminating inhibitors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Dec;74(12):5463–5467. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.12.5463. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Thomas P. S. Hybridization of denatured RNA and small DNA fragments transferred to nitrocellulose. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1980 Sep;77(9):5201–5205. doi: 10.1073/pnas.77.9.5201. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Twigg A. J., Sherratt D. Trans-complementable copy-number mutants of plasmid ColE1. Nature. 1980 Jan 10;283(5743):216–218. doi: 10.1038/283216a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Van der Ploeg L. H., Liu A. Y., Michels P. A., De Lange T., Borst P., Majumder H. K., Weber H., Veeneman G. H., Van Boom J. RNA splicing is required to make the messenger RNA for a variant surface antigen in trypanosomes. Nucleic Acids Res. 1982 Jun 25;10(12):3591–3604. doi: 10.1093/nar/10.12.3591. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Van der Ploeg L. H., Valerio D., De Lange T., Bernards A., Borst P., Grosveld F. G. An analysis of cosmid clones of nuclear DNA from Trypanosoma brucei shows that the genes for variant surface glycoproteins are clustered in the genome. Nucleic Acids Res. 1982 Oct 11;10(19):5905–5923. doi: 10.1093/nar/10.19.5905. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Vickerman K. Antigenic variation in trypanosomes. Nature. 1978 Jun 22;273(5664):613–617. doi: 10.1038/273613a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. WARREN L. G. Metabolism of Schizotrypanum cruzi Chagas. I. Effect of culture age and substrate concentration on respiratory rate. J Parasitol. 1960 Oct;46:529–539. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Zimmerman S. B. The three-dimensional structure of DNA. Annu Rev Biochem. 1982;51:395–427. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.51.070182.002143. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Nucleic Acids Research are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES