An assembly of nuclear bodies associates with the active VSG expression site in African trypanosomes
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Author(s)
Budzak, James
Jones, Robert
Tschudi, Christian
Kolev, Nikolay
Rudenko, Gloria
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
A Variant Surface Glycoprotein (VSG) coat protects bloodstream form Trypanosoma
brucei. Prodigious amounts of VSG mRNA (~7-10% total) are generated from a single RNA
polymerase I (Pol I) transcribed VSG expression site (ES), necessitating extremely high
levels of localised splicing. We show that splicing is required for processive ES transcription,
and describe novel ES-associated T. brucei nuclear bodies. In bloodstream form
trypanosomes, the expression site body (ESB), spliced leader array body (SLAB), NUFIP
body and Cajal bodies all frequently associate with the active ES. This assembly of nuclear
bodies appears to facilitate the extraordinarily high levels of transcription and splicing at the
active ES. In procyclic form trypanosomes, the NUFIP body and SLAB do not appear to
interact with the Pol I transcribed procyclin locus. The congregation of a restricted number
of nuclear bodies at a single active ES, provides an attractive mechanism for how monoallelic
ES transcription is mediated.
brucei. Prodigious amounts of VSG mRNA (~7-10% total) are generated from a single RNA
polymerase I (Pol I) transcribed VSG expression site (ES), necessitating extremely high
levels of localised splicing. We show that splicing is required for processive ES transcription,
and describe novel ES-associated T. brucei nuclear bodies. In bloodstream form
trypanosomes, the expression site body (ESB), spliced leader array body (SLAB), NUFIP
body and Cajal bodies all frequently associate with the active ES. This assembly of nuclear
bodies appears to facilitate the extraordinarily high levels of transcription and splicing at the
active ES. In procyclic form trypanosomes, the NUFIP body and SLAB do not appear to
interact with the Pol I transcribed procyclin locus. The congregation of a restricted number
of nuclear bodies at a single active ES, provides an attractive mechanism for how monoallelic
ES transcription is mediated.
Date Issued
2022-01-10
Date Acceptance
2021-11-26
Citation
Nature Communications, 2022, 13 (101), pp.1-17
ISSN
2041-1723
Publisher
Nature Research
Start Page
1
End Page
17
Journal / Book Title
Nature Communications
Volume
13
Issue
101
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2022. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License URL
Sponsor
Wellcome Trust
Identifier
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-27625-6
Grant Number
212211/Z/18/Z
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2022-01-10