Open AccessUracil moieties in Plasmodium falciparum genomic DNA
Author(s) -
Molnár Petra,
Marton Lívia,
Izrael Richard,
Pálinkás Hajnalka L.,
Vértessy Beáta G.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
febs open bio
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.718
H-Index - 31
ISSN - 2211-5463
DOI - 10.1002/2211-5463.12458
Subject(s) - uracil , dna glycosylase , biology , dna , base excision repair , dna repair , thymine , plasmodium falciparum , genome , uracil dna glycosylase , genomic dna , dna damage , genetics , biochemistry , gene , malaria , immunology
Plasmodium falciparum parasites undergo multiple genome duplication events during their development. Within the intraerythrocytic stages, parasites encounter an oxidative environment and DNA synthesis necessarily proceeds under these circumstances. In addition to these conditions, the extreme AT bias of the P. falciparum genome poses further constraints for DNA synthesis. Taken together, these circumstances may allow appearance of damaged bases in the Plasmodium DNA . Here, we focus on uracil that may arise in DNA either via oxidative deamination or thymine‐replacing incorporation. We determine the level of uracil at the ring, trophozoite, and schizont intraerythrocytic stages and evaluate the base‐excision repair potential of P. falciparum to deal with uracil‐ DNA repair. We find approximately 7–10 uracil per million bases in the different parasite stages. This level is considerably higher than found in other wild‐type organisms from bacteria to mammalian species. Based on a systematic assessment of P. falciparum genome and transcriptome databases, we conclude that uracil‐ DNA repair relies on one single uracil‐ DNA glycosylase and proceeds through the long‐patch base‐excision repair route. Although potentially efficient, the repair route still leaves considerable level of uracils in parasite DNA , which may contribute to mutation rates in P. falciparum .