title: The putative telomerase reverse transcriptase component of Leishmania amazonensis: gene cloning and characterization.
abstract: The Leishmania amazonensis telomerase gene was cloned by a polymerase chain reaction-based strategy using primers designed from a Leishmania major sequence that shared similarities with conserved telomerase motifs. The genes from three other species were cloned for comparative purposes. A ClustalW multiple-sequence alignment demonstrated that the Leishmania telomerases show greater homology with each other than with the proteins of other kinetoplastids and eukaryotes. Characterization experiments indicated that the putative Leishmania telomerase gene was probably in single copy and located in the largest chromosomes. A single messenger ribonucleic acid transcript was found in promastigotes. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that Leishmania telomerase might represent a liaison between the oldest and the newest branches of telomerases.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Patologia Clínica, Núcleo de Medicina e Cirurgia Experimental, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), CP 6109, Campinas, SP, CEP 13083-970, Brazil.
authors.forename: Miriam A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Giardini
authors.forename: Cristina B B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Lira
authors.forename: Fábio F
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: Conte
authors.forename: Luciana R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Camillo
authors.forename: Jair L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: de Siqueira Neto
authors.forename: Carlos H I
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.forename: Maria Isabel N
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Cano
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D002875:Chromosomes / Q000235:genetics; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D018320:Leishmania major / Q000235:genetics; D007894:Leishmania mexicana / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D019098:Telomerase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D019098:Telomerase