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Transcription and editing of cytochrome oxidase II RNAs in Trypanosoma cruzi
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Transcription and editing of cytochrome oxidase II RNAs in Trypanosoma cruzi

Kwang S Kim, Santuza M R Teixeira, Louis V Kirchhoff and John E Donelson
The Journal of biological chemistry, Vol.269(2), pp.1206-1211
01/01/1994
DOI: 10.1016/S0021-9258(17)42243-5
PMID: 8288582
url
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0021-9258(17)42243-5View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

The cytochrome oxidase subunit II (COII) gene is one of the maxicircle cryptogenes of kinetoplastids whose primary transcripts are sometimes modified by RNA editing to produce mature mRNAs. We determined the sequence of the COII gene in three strains of Trypanosoma cruzi (Y, Corpus Christi, and Tulahuen) and examined its developmental expression. Comparison of the RNA and DNA sequences encoding COII indicated that in the three strains of T. cruzi, four uridines are inserted in the pre-mRNA at the same positions as they are in the COII pre-mRNAs of Trypanosoma brucei, Leishmania tarentolae, and Crithidia fasciculata. The putative guide RNA (gRNA) sequence that serves as a template for the four uridine insertions is located in the 3'-untranslated region of the T. cruzi COII mRNA. Analysis of editing intermediates demonstrates that the COII gRNA remains attached to the pre-mRNA while participating in the formation of chimeric RNAs. Northern blots used to investigate stage-specific expression of the COII gene revealed RNAs of 800 and 900 nucleotides, similar in size to those present in T. brucei. In contrast to the differential expression observed in T. brucei, no difference occurs between the COII mRNA levels of insect and mammalian stages of T. cruzi.
 Kinetoplastida Trypanosoma cruzi

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