title: Parasitism and chromosome dynamics in protozoan parasites: is there a connection?
abstract: Genomic plasticity is a hallmark of many protozoan parasites, including Plasmodium spp, Trypanosoma spp, Leishmania ssp and Giardia lamblia. Strikingly, there is a common theme regarding the structural basis of this karyotype variability. Chromosomes are compartmentalized into conserved central domains and polymorphic chromosome ends. Since antigen-encoding genes frequently reside in telomere-proximal domains, it is tempting to speculate that the genetic flexibility of chromosome ends has been recruited as a tool in immune evasion strategies by some parasitic protozoa.
authors.affiliation: Zentrum für Infektionsforschung, Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lanzer
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Le Blancq
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000940:Antigenic Variation / Q000235:genetics; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D002875:Chromosomes / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D056890:Eukaryota / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D016829:Giardia lamblia / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D007621:Karyotyping; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D013045:Species Specificity; D016615:Telomere; D014346:Trypanosoma brucei brucei / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D015800:Protozoan Proteins