Journal
MOLECULAR AND BIOCHEMICAL PARASITOLOGY
Volume 125, Issue 1-2, Pages 11-21Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/S0166-6851(02)00165-2
Keywords
Trypanosoma brucei; MRE11; growth; DNA repair; recombination; telomere
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Funding
- NIAID NIH HHS [AI21729] Funding Source: Medline
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MRE11 is a conserved multi-functional protein that is important for maintaining genomic integrity in yeast and mammalian cells. By database searching, we identified a full-length candidate MRE11 on Trypanosome brucei chromosome II. We subsequently cloned and sequenced the corresponding gene from the Lister 427 strain. MRE11 is a single copy gene that encodes an 83 kDa protein of 763 amino acids. GFP-MRE11 and Tyl-MRE11 fusion proteins localized to the nucleus of bloodstream and procyclic T brucei. Interestingly, Tyl-MRE11 associated, to some extent, with telomeres of procyclic but not bloodstream forms. This association appears cell-cycle dependent, with the highest co-localization in G1 cells. We were able to generate an MRE11 null mutant in bloodstream forms, indicating that it is non-essential. However, the null mutant was impaired in homologous recombination, as evidenced by the reduced integration efficiency of transfected DNA. A conditional null mutant, containing a tetracycline-inducible ectopic Tyl-MRE11, exhibited reduced growth and plating efficiency and increased sensitivity to DNA double-strand breaks, induced by methyl methanesulphonate or ionizing radiation, in the absence of tetracycline. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
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