Malaria parasites contain two identical copies of an elongation factor 1 alpha gene

Vinkenoog, Rinke, Aparecida Sperança, Márcia, van Breemen, Onno, Ramesar, Jai, Williamson, Donald, Ross-MacDonald, Petra, Thomas, Alan, Janse, Chris, del Portillo, Hernando and Waters, Andrew (1998) Malaria parasites contain two identical copies of an elongation factor 1 alpha gene. Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology, 94 (1). pp. 1-12. ISSN 0166 6851

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Abstract

Elongation factor 1alpha (EF-1α) is an abundant protein in eukaryotic cells, involved chiefly in translation of mRNA on the ribosomes, and is frequently encoded by more than one gene. Here we show the presence of two identical copies of the EF-1α gene in the genome of three malaria parasites, Plasmodium knowlesi, P. berghei and P. falciparum. They are organized in a head-to-head orientation and both genes are expressed in a stage specific manner at a high level, indicating that the small intergenic region contains either two strong promoters or a single bidirectional one. Both genes are expressed at the same time during erythrocytic development of the parasite. This expression pattern and the 100% similarity of the two genes excludes the possibility that the duplicated genes developed in accordance to the different types of ribosomes in Plasmodium. It is more likely that the duplication reflects a gene dosage effect. Comparison of codon usage in the Cdc2-related kinase genes (CRK2) of Plasmodium, which are expressed at a very low level, with the EF-1α genes indicates the existence of a codon bias for highly expressed genes, as has been shown in other organisms.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Malaria; Plasmodium berghei; Elongation factor 1α; Codon bias; Expression; Gene dosage
Subjects:	C100 Biology C200 Botany
Department:	Faculties > Health and Life Sciences > Applied Sciences
Depositing User:	Becky Skoyles
Date Deposited:	09 Apr 2015 14:46
Last Modified:	12 Oct 2019 17:29
URI:	http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/22014

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