Unusual histone modifications in Trypanosoma brucei
- 24 March 2006
- journal article
- Published by Wiley in FEBS Letters
- Vol. 580 (9) , 2306-2310
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.febslet.2006.03.044
Abstract
To start to understand the role of chromatin structure in regulating transcription in trypanosomes, we analyzed covalent modifications on the four core histones of Trypanosoma brucei. We found unusually few modifications in the N‐terminal tails, which are abundantly modified in other organisms and whose sequences, but not composition, are highly divergent in trypanosomes. In contrast, the C‐terminal region of H2A appears to be hyper‐acetylated. Surprisingly, the N‐terminal alanines of H2A, H2B, and H4, were mono‐methylated, a modification that has not been described previously for histones. Possible functions and evolutionary explanations for these unusual histone modifications are discussed.Keywords
This publication has 16 references indexed in Scilit:
- The Genome of the African Trypanosome Trypanosoma bruceiScience, 2005
- The molecular evolution of trypanosomatidaePublished by Elsevier ,2004
- A chromosomal SIR2 homologue with both histone NAD-dependent ADP-ribosyltransferase and deacetylase activities is involved in DNA repair in Trypanosoma bruceiThe EMBO Journal, 2003
- Histone and chromatin cross-talkCurrent Opinion in Cell Biology, 2003
- Histone deacetylases in Trypanosoma brucei: two are essential and another is required for normal cell cycle progressionMolecular Microbiology, 2002
- Isolation and Characterization of Subnuclear Compartments from Trypanosoma bruceiPublished by American Society for Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (ASBMB) ,2001
- Nuclear gene transcription and chromatin in Trypanosoma bruceiInternational Journal for Parasitology, 2001
- Antigenic variation in trypanosomes: Enhanced phenotypic variation in a eukaryotic parasiteAdvances in Parasitology, 2001
- The language of covalent histone modificationsNature, 2000
- Trypanosoma brucei variant surface glycoprotein regulation involves coupled activation/inactivation and chromatin remodeling of expression sitesThe EMBO Journal, 1999