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Unusual histone modifications in Trypanosoma brucei
Author(s) -
Janzen Christian J.,
Fernandez Joseph P.,
Deng Haiteng,
Diaz Robert,
Hake Sandra B.,
Cross George A.M.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/j.febslet.2006.03.044
Subject(s) - trypanosoma brucei , histone , chromatin , biology , acetylation , histone h1 , biochemistry , histone h2a , trypanosoma , transcription (linguistics) , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , gene , linguistics , philosophy
To start to understand the role of chromatin structure in regulating transcription in trypanosomes, we analyzed covalent modifications on the four core histones of Trypanosoma brucei . We found unusually few modifications in the N‐terminal tails, which are abundantly modified in other organisms and whose sequences, but not composition, are highly divergent in trypanosomes. In contrast, the C‐terminal region of H2A appears to be hyper‐acetylated. Surprisingly, the N‐terminal alanines of H2A, H2B, and H4, were mono‐methylated, a modification that has not been described previously for histones. Possible functions and evolutionary explanations for these unusual histone modifications are discussed.