ArticleEukaryotic cell2003
RNA polymerase I transcribes procyclin genes and variant surface glycoprotein gene expression sites in Trypanosoma brucei.
Article in Eukaryotic cell, 2003. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 155 papers.
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Who cites it
155 citing papers in PubMed, 237 citations in OpenAlex.
- Endoplasmic reticulum engagement of transcripts triggers VSG mRNA balancing in trypanosomes.PLoS pathogens · 2026Article
- Regulation of Leishmania surface coat proteins by the nuclear protein ESB1.Journal of cell science · 2026Article
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- SF3B1 phosphorylation is an evolutionarily conserved step in spliceosome activation carried out by the divergent, OTS964-insensitive kinase CRK9 in trypanosomes.Nucleic acids research · 2026Article
- Kozak sequences regulate gene expression in Trypanosoma brucei.Nucleic acids research · 2026Article
- A factor integrating transcription and repression of surface antigen genes in African trypanosomes.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Division of labor in trypanosome RNA processing and export through expanded Mex67 paralogs.Nucleic acids research · 2026Article
- Kin17 promotes rDNA transcription, ribosomal biogenesis, and cortical lamination.EMBO reports · 2025Article
- Article
- Suppression by RNA Polymerase I Inhibitors Varies Greatly Between Distinct RNA Polymerase I Transcribed Genes in Malaria Parasites.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Analyses of the essential C82 subunit uncovered some differences in RNA polymerase III transcription betweenParasitology · 2024Article
- Protein phosphatase PP1 regulation of RNA polymerase II transcription termination and allelic exclusion of VSG genes in trypanosomes.Nucleic acids research · 2024Article
- Unwrap RAP1's Mystery at Kinetoplastid Telomeres.Biomolecules · 2024Review
- Immunoprecipitation of RNA-DNA hybrid interacting proteins in Trypanosoma brucei reveals conserved and novel activities, including in the control of surface antigen expression needed for immune evasion by antigenic variation.Nucleic acids research · 2023Article
- How much (ATP) does it cost to build a trypanosome? A theoretical study on the quantity of ATP needed to maintain and duplicate a bloodstream-form Trypanosoma brucei cell.PLoS pathogens · 2023Article
- The RNA export factor TbMex67 connects transcription and RNA export in Trypanosoma brucei and sets boundaries for RNA polymerase I.Nucleic acids research · 2023Article
- The RRM-mediated RNA binding activity in T. brucei RAP1 is essential for VSG monoallelic expression.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Telomere maintenance in African trypanosomes.Frontiers in molecular biosciences · 2023Review
- The RNA-binding protein RBP33 dampens non-productive transcription in trypanosomes.Nucleic acids research · 2022Article
- Nucleolar targeting in an early-branching eukaryote suggests a general mechanism for ribosome protein sorting.Journal of cell science · 2022Article
95 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
In eukaryotes, RNA polymerase (pol) I exclusively transcribes the large rRNA gene unit (rDNA) and mRNA is synthesized by RNA pol II. The African trypanosome, Trypanosoma brucei, represents an exception to this rule. In this organism, transcription of genes encoding the variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) and the procyclins is resistant to alpha-amanitin, indicating that it is mediated by RNA pol I, while other protein-coding genes are transcribed by RNA pol II. To obtain firm proof for this concept, we generated a T. brucei cell line which exclusively expresses protein C epitope-tagged RNA pol I. Using an anti-protein C immunoaffinity matrix, we specifically depleted RNA pol I from transcriptionally active cell extracts. The depletion of RNA pol I impaired in vitro transcription initiated at the rDNA promoter, the GPEET procyclin gene promoter, and a VSG gene expression site promoter but did not affect transcription from the spliced leader (SL) RNA gene promoter. Fittingly, induction of RNA interference against the RNA pol I largest subunit in insect-form trypanosomes significantly reduced the relative transcriptional efficiency of rDNA, procyclin genes, and VSG expression sites in vivo whereas that of SL RNA, alphabeta-tubulin, and heat shock protein 70 genes was not affected. Our studies unequivocally show that T. brucei harbors a multifunctional RNA pol I which, in addition to transcribing rDNA, transcribes procyclin genes and VSG gene expression sites.
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