Comparative study of telomeric and subtelomeric regions of Trypanosoma cruzi

• Grant number: 13/04372-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)
• Effective date (Start): June 01, 2013
• Effective date (End): March 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Parasitology - Protozoology of Parasites
• Principal Investigator: José Franco da Silveira Filho
• Grantee: Cristiane Regina Antonio
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 11/51475-3 - Molecular and cellular biology of the parasitism by Trypanosoma cruzi, AP.TEM

Abstract

The protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of Chagas disease, is a primitive eukaryotic organism whose genetic organization could represent the transition between bacteria and higher eukaryotes. To date the complete linear sequence of T. cruzi chromosomes has not been determined due to the high content of repetitive sequences of the genome of this parasite. This gap also includes the chromosome ends which hereafter referred to as telomeres. In addition to maintaining structural stability of the chromosome the telomeres harbor genes involved in the host/parasite interaction. . Recently, we suggest that T. cruzi subtelomeric regions are involved in the generation of new variants of surface antigens of the superfamily of trans-sialidases (TS). T. cruzi subtelomeric regions are polymorphic and variables, suggesting the occurrence of mutations in DNA replication and ectopic or homologous recombination between the telomeric ends in the mitosis. The purpose of this project is to characterize the telomeric and subtelomeric regions of T. cruzi using telomeric sequence scaffolds (Tel Tel 1 to 49) identified in the GeneDB TriTryp database, and to determine the structure and organization of these regions in different T. cruzi strains by chromosomal band mapping and comparative genomic hybridization in DNA microarrays. The integration of telomeric sequences organized in silico with the molecular karyotype will be performed by mapping the chromosome ends (Tel Tel 1 to 49) into the chromosomal bands of clone CL Brener separated by pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Comparison between telomeric regions of clone CL Brener and other strains of T. cruzi will be performed using the technique of comparative genomic hybridization based microarray (aCGH).Thus, in this project we intend to determine the organization of telomeric ends and generate information to understand the structure, organization and function of the subtelomeric regions in different strains of T. cruzi. (AU)