ArticlePLoS pathogens2012
Telomere length affects the frequency and mechanism of antigenic variation in Trypanosoma brucei.
Article in PLoS pathogens, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 52 papers.
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Who cites it
52 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- Fexinidazole results in specific effects on DNA synthesis and DNA damage in the African trypanosome.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- Unwrap RAP1's Mystery at Kinetoplastid Telomeres.Biomolecules · 2024Review
- RAD51-mediated R-loop formation acts to repair transcription-associated DNA breaks driving antigenic variation inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023Article
- UMSBP2 is chromatin remodeler that functions in regulation of gene expression and suppression of antigenic variation in trypanosomes.Nucleic acids research · 2023Article
- Proteomic analysis defines the interactome of telomerase in the protozoan parasite,Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2023Article
- Telomere maintenance in African trypanosomes.Frontiers in molecular biosciences · 2023Review
- Article
- Article
- POLIE suppresses telomerase-mediated telomere G-strand extension and helps ensure proper telomere C-strand synthesis in trypanosomes.Nucleic acids research · 2022Article
- In vivo architecture of the telomerase RNA catalytic core in Trypanosoma brucei.Nucleic acids research · 2021Article
- DNA double strand break position leads to distinct gene expression changes and regulates VSG switching pathway choice.PLoS pathogens · 2021Article
- Diverse telomeres in trypanosomatids.Parasitology · 2021Article
- Regulation of Antigenic Variation byPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor: Non-deterministic Mechanisms Diversifying Cell Surface Molecule Expression.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2021Review
- Genetic Interaction Between Site-Specific Epigenetic Marks and Roles of H4v in Transcription Termination inFrontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2021Article
- Keeping Balance Between Genetic Stability and Plasticity at the Telomere and Subtelomere ofFrontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2021Review
- DNA Double-Strand Breaks: A Double-Edged Sword for Trypanosomatids.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2021Review
- Article
- Telomere and Subtelomere R-loops and Antigenic Variation in Trypanosomes.Journal of molecular biology · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Trypanosoma brucei is a master of antigenic variation and immune response evasion. Utilizing a genomic repertoire of more than 1000 Variant Surface Glycoprotein-encoding genes (VSGs), T. brucei can change its protein coat by "switching" from the expression of one VSG to another. Each active VSG is monoallelically expressed from only one of approximately 15 subtelomeric sites. Switching VSG expression occurs by three predominant mechanisms, arguably the most significant of which is the non-reciprocal exchange of VSG containing DNA by duplicative gene conversion (GC). How T. brucei orchestrates its complex switching mechanisms remains to be elucidated. Recent work has demonstrated that an exogenous DNA break in the active site could initiate a GC based switch, yet the source of the switch-initiating DNA lesion under natural conditions is still unknown. Here we investigated the hypothesis that telomere length directly affects VSG switching. We demonstrate that telomerase deficient strains with short telomeres switch more frequently than genetically identical strains with long telomeres and that, when the telomere is short, switching preferentially occurs by GC. Our data supports the hypothesis that a short telomere at the active VSG expression site results in an increase in subtelomeric DNA breaks, which can initiate GC based switching. In addition to their significance for T. brucei and telomere biology, the findings presented here have implications for the many diverse pathogens that organize their antigenic genes in subtelomeric regions.
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