title: A mark of silence in malaria parasites.
abstract: Gene families in malaria parasites that encode hypervariable surface antigens display mutually exclusive expression that is controlled epigenetically. In this issue, Lopez-Rubio et al. (2009) show that the histone mark H3K9me3 is specifically associated with regulation of expression of these gene families within repressive centers located at the nuclear periphery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Medical College, Cornell University, New York, NY 10021, USA. kwd2001@med.cornell.edu
authors.forename: Kirk W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Deitsch
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006657:Histones / Q000378:metabolism*; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000276:immunology* / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D006657:Histones