Genomic organization, transcription, splicing and gene regulation in Leishmania

Citation
Jk. Stiles et al., Genomic organization, transcription, splicing and gene regulation in Leishmania, ANN TROP M, 93(8), 1999, pp. 781-807
Citations number
180
Categorie Soggetti
Envirnomentale Medicine & Public Health","Medical Research General Topics
Journal title
ANNALS OF TROPICAL MEDICINE AND PARASITOLOGY
ISSN journal
00034983 → ACNP
Volume
93
Issue
8
Year of publication
1999
Pages
781 - 807
Database
ISI
SICI code
0003-4983(199912)93:8<781:GOTSAG>2.0.ZU;2-F
Abstract
The parasitic protozoan Leishmania is the aetiological agent of a spectrum of clinical diseases, ranging from disfiguring skin lesions to life-threate ning visceral infection, and is a serious health problem in tropical and su btropical areas world-wide. Leishmania parasites undergo a dramatic transfo rmation as they move between the different environments of an extracellular insect stage and an intracellular form in the vertebrate host. In an attem pt to develop new strategies for the treatment of leishmaniasis, the techni ques of molecular genetics have been utilised to elucidate the mechanisms w hich direct and control this cyclical differentiation. This review discusse s current knowledge concerning the organization and regulation of the Leish mania nuclear genome and includes a discussion of chromosomal organization, genomic arrangement, transcription, transcript processing by trans-splicin g and polyadenylation, and post-transcriptional regulation. The salient fea tures as well as the supporting evidence for each topic are briefly reviewe d.