Epigenetic Regulation of Transcription in Trypanosomatid Protozoa

Overview

Journal Curr Genomics

Publisher Bentham Science Publishers

Date 2018 Mar 2

PMID 29491742

Citations 8

Authors

Santiago Martinez-Calvillo

Gabriela Romero-Meza

Juan C Vizuet-de-Rueda

Luis E Florencio-Martinez

Rebeca Manning-Cela

Tomas Nepomuceno-Mejia

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The Trypanosomatid family includes flagellated parasites that cause fatal human diseases. Remarkably, protein-coding genes in these organisms are positioned in long tandem arrays that are transcribed polycistronically. However, the knowledge about regulation of transcription initiation and termination in trypanosomatids is scarce. The importance of epigenetic regulation in these processes has become evident in the last years, as distinctive histone modifications and histone variants have been found in transcription initiation and termination regions. Moreover, multiple chromatin-related proteins have been identified and characterized in trypanosomatids, including histone-modifying enzymes, effector complexes, chromatin-remodelling enzymes and histone chaperones. Notably, base J, a modified thymine residue present in the nuclear DNA of trypanosomatids, has been implicated in transcriptional regulation. Here we review the current knowledge on epigenetic control of transcription by all three RNA polymerases in this group of early-diverged eukaryotes.

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