Yuda Masao, Iwanaga Shiroh, Shigenobu Shuji, Mair Gunnar R, Janse Chris J, Waters Andrew P, Kato Tomomi, Kaneko Izumi
Department of Medical Zoology, Mie University School of Medicine, Mie, Tsu, 514-0001, Japan.
Mol Microbiol. 2009 Mar;71(6):1402-14. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2009.06609.x. Epub 2009 Feb 10.
Gene expression in Plasmodium parasites undergoes significant changes in each developmental stage, but the transcription factors (TFs) regulating these changes have not been identified. We report here a Plasmodium TF (AP2-O) that activates gene expression in ookinetes, the mosquito-invasive form, and has a DNA-binding domain structurally related to that of a plant TF, Apetala2 (AP2). AP2-O mRNA is pre-synthesized by intraerythrocytic female gametocytes and translated later during ookinete development in the mosquito. The Plasmodium TF activates a set of genes, including all genes reported to be required for midgut invasion, by binding to specific six-base sequences on the proximal promoter. These results indicate that AP2 family TFs have important roles in stage-specific gene regulation in Plasmodium parasites.
疟原虫寄生虫中的基因表达在每个发育阶段都会发生显著变化，但调节这些变化的转录因子（TFs）尚未被鉴定出来。我们在此报告一种疟原虫TF（AP2-O），它可激活动合子（侵入蚊子的形式）中的基因表达，并且具有与植物TF花分生组织特征基因2（AP2）结构相关的DNA结合结构域。AP2-O mRNA由红细胞内的雌配子体预先合成，并在蚊子体内动合子发育后期进行翻译。这种疟原虫TF通过与近端启动子上特定的六碱基序列结合，激活一组基因，包括所有据报道对中肠入侵所必需的基因。这些结果表明，AP2家族TFs在疟原虫寄生虫的阶段特异性基因调控中发挥重要作用。
