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. 1989 Dec 11;17(23):9621–9636. doi: 10.1093/nar/17.23.9621

An enlarged largest subunit of Plasmodium falciparum RNA polymerase II defines conserved and variable RNA polymerase domains.

W B Li 1, D J Bzik 1, H M Gu 1, M Tanaka 1, B A Fox 1, J Inselburg 1
PMCID: PMC335202  PMID: 2690004

Abstract

We have isolated the gene encoding the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II from Plasmodium falciparum. The RPII gene is expressed in the asexual erythrocytic stages of the parasite as a 9 kb mRNA, and is present as a single copy gene located on chromosome 3. The P. falciparum RPII subunit is the largest (2452 amino acids) eukaryotic RPII subunit, and it contains enlarged variable regions that clearly separate and define five conserved regions of the eukaryotic RPII largest subunits. A distinctive carboxyl-terminal domain contains a short highly conserved heptapeptide repeat domain which is bounded on its 5' side by a highly diverged heptapeptide repeat domain, and is bounded on its 3' side by a long carboxyl-terminal extension.

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