Peculiarities of Plasmodium falciparum Gene Regulation and Chromatin Structure

Watzlowik, Maria Theresia; Das, Sujaan; Meißner, Markus and Längst, Gernot (2021): Peculiarities of Plasmodium falciparum Gene Regulation and Chromatin Structure. In: International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Vol. 22, No. 10, 5168

Abstract

The highly complex life cycle of the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, is based on an orchestrated and tightly regulated gene expression program. In general, eukaryotic transcription regulation is determined by a combination of sequence-specific transcription factors binding to regulatory DNA elements and the packaging of DNA into chromatin as an additional layer. The accessibility of regulatory DNA elements is controlled by the nucleosome occupancy and changes of their positions by an active process called nucleosome remodeling. These epigenetic mechanisms are poorly explored in P. falciparum. The parasite genome is characterized by an extraordinarily high AT-content and the distinct architecture of functional elements, and chromatin-related proteins also exhibit high sequence divergence compared to other eukaryotes. Together with the distinct biochemical properties of nucleosomes, these features suggest substantial differences in chromatin-dependent regulation. Here, we highlight the peculiarities of epigenetic mechanisms in P. falciparum, addressing chromatin structure and dynamics with respect to their impact on transcriptional control. We focus on the specialized chromatin remodeling enzymes and discuss their essential function in P. falciparum gene regulation.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Faculties: Veterinary Medicine > Department of Veterinary Medicine
• Subjects: 600 Technology > 610 Medicine and health
• Language: English