Skip to content
2000
Volume 19, Issue 2
  • ISSN: 1389-2029
  • E-ISSN: 1875-5488

Abstract

Introduction: Understanding how the nuclear genome of kinetoplastid parasites is replicated received experimental stimulus from sequencing of the Leishmania major, Trypanosoma brucei and Trypanosoma cruzi genomes around 10 years ago. Gene annotations suggested key players in DNA replication initiation could not be found in these organisms, despite considerable conservation amongst characterised eukaryotes. Initial studies that indicated trypanosomatids might possess an archaeal- like Origin Recognition Complex (ORC), composed of only a single factor termed ORC1/CDC6, have been supplanted by the more recent identification of an ORC in T. brucei. However, the constituent subunits of T. brucei ORC are highly diverged relative to other eukaryotic ORCs and the activity of the complex appears subject to novel, positive regulation. The availability of whole genome sequences has also allowed the deployment of genome-wide strategies to map DNA replication dynamics, to date in T. brucei and Leishmania. ORC1/CDC6 binding and function in T. brucei displays pronounced overlap with the unconventional organisation of gene expression in the genome. Moreover, mapping of sites of replication initiation suggests pronounced differences in replication dynamics in Leishmania relative to T. brucei. Conclusion: Here we discuss what implications these emerging data may have for parasite and eukaryotic biology of DNA replication.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/cg/10.2174/1389202918666170815144627
2018-02-01
2025-05-22
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/content/journals/cg/10.2174/1389202918666170815144627
Loading
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error
Please enter a valid_number test