Epigenetics in Apicomplexa: control of gene expression during cell cycle progression, differentiation and antigenic variation.

TitleEpigenetics in Apicomplexa: control of gene expression during cell cycle progression, differentiation and antigenic variation.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2007
AuthorsHakimi M-A, Deitsch KW
JournalCurr Opin Microbiol
Volume10
Issue4
Pagination357-62
Date Published2007 Aug
ISSN1369-5274
KeywordsAnimals, Antigenic Variation, Antigens, Protozoan, Apicomplexa, Cell Cycle, Epigenesis, Genetic, Gene Expression Regulation, Humans, Protozoan Infections
Abstract

Apicomplexan parasites are important disease causing organisms that infect both animals and humans, causing extensive health and economic damage to human populations, particularly those in the developing world. The ability to perform genetic crosses, to engineer transgenic parasites lines, and the wealth of information made available through recent genome sequencing projects have made the laboratory study of these parasites important not only for understanding the diseases that they cause, but also for gaining insights into basic biological processes. The control of gene expression and cellular differentiation are particularly interesting in these organisms, as the apparent lack of large families of recognizable transcription factors typically found in other eukaryotic organisms suggests that they may be unusually reliant on epigenetic mechanisms. Here we review recent advances in the study of epigenetic gene regulation in the apicomplexan parasites Plasmodium falciparum and Toxoplasma gondii.

DOI10.1016/j.mib.2007.07.005
Alternate JournalCurr Opin Microbiol
PubMed ID17719264

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