A PLASMODIUM-FALCIPARUM HOMOLOG OF THE ATPASE SUBUNIT OF A MULTI-PROTEIN COMPLEX INVOLVED IN CHROMATIN REMODELING FOR TRANSCRIPTION

A Plasmodium falciparum homologue of one of the components of a chroma tin-remodelling complex which controls binding of transcription factor s to nucleosome core particles has been cloned and characterised. The gene encodes 1422 amino acids with an estimated molecular mass of 167 kDa. The protein, SNF2L, shares 60% amino acid identity in its conserv ed DNA-dependent ATPase domain with yeast transcription factors origin ally identified by characterising mating type switch mutants. It also contains sequences related to the so-called SWI3, ADA2, N-CoR and TFII IB B'' or SANT DNA binding domains which are characteristic of these t ranscriptional activation factors. The SNF2L gene has two short intron s in the 3' region of the coding sequence of the gene and is transcrib ed into a single similar to 6.5 kb messenger RNA species which is pres ent throughout the asexual stages of the cell cycle. Southern blotting and pulsed field gel electrophoresis experiments show that SNF2L is a single copy gene, located on P. falciparum chromosome 11. (C) 1997 El sevier Science B.V.