A greedy promoter controls malarial var-iations.
Immune evasion by the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum is mediated by the mutually exclusive expression of a single member of the var family of genes, which encode variant surface antigens. In a recent paper in Nature, demonstrate that a construct carrying a transcriptionally active var promoter is sufficient to promote allelic exclusion of the parasite's endogenous var gene.
Scherf
Artur
A
Unité de Biologie des Interactions Hôte-Parasite CNRS-URA 2581, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France. ascherf@pasteur.fr
D000818:Animals; D000940:Antigenic Variation / Q000235:genetics*; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000235:genetics*; D008954:Models, Biological; D009154:Mutation; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000235:genetics*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000502:physiology*; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D015533:Transcriptional Activation
D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D015800:Protozoan Proteins