@article {1274,
	title = {Trypanosoma brucei Orc1 is essential for nuclear DNA replication and affects both VSG silencing and VSG switching.},
	journal = {Mol Microbiol},
	volume = {87},
	year = {2013},
	month = {2013 Jan},
	pages = {196-210},
	abstract = {<p>Binding of the Origin Recognition Complex (ORC) to replication origins is essential for initiation of DNA replication, but ORC has non-essential functions outside of DNA replication, including in heterochromatic gene silencing and telomere maintenance. Trypanosoma brucei, a protozoan parasite that causes human African trypanosomiasis, uses antigenic variation as a major virulence mechanism to evade the host\&$\#$39;s immune attack by expressing its major surface antigen, the Variant Surface Glycoprotein (VSG), in a monoallelic manner. An Orc1/Cdc6 homologue has been identified in T.\&thinsp;brucei, but its role in DNA replication has not been directly confirmed and its potential involvement in VSG repression or switching has not been thoroughly investigated. In this study, we show that TbOrc1 is essential for nuclear DNA replication in mammalian-infectious bloodstream and tsetse procyclic forms (BF and PF). Depletion of TbOrc1 resulted in derepression of telomere-linked silent VSGs in both BF and PF, and increased VSG switching particularly through the in situ transcriptional switching mechanism. TbOrc1 associates with telomere repeats but appears to do so independently of two known T.\&thinsp;brucei telomere proteins, TbRAP1 and TbTRF. We conclude that TbOrc1 has conserved functions in DNA replication and is also required to control telomere-linked VSG expression and VSG switching.</p>
},
	keywords = {Antigenic Variation, DNA Replication, DNA, Protozoan, Gene Silencing, Genes, Protozoan, Membrane Glycoproteins, Origin Recognition Complex, Promoter Regions, Genetic, Trypanosoma brucei brucei, Variant Surface Glycoproteins, Trypanosoma},
	issn = {1365-2958},
	doi = {10.1111/mmi.12093},
	author = {Benmerzouga, Imaan and Concepci{\'o}n-Acevedo, Jeniffer and Kim, Hee-Sook and Vandoros, Anthula V and Cross, George A M and Klingbeil, Michele M and Li, Bibo}
}
@article {380,
	title = {Three mitochondrial DNA polymerases are essential for kinetoplast DNA replication and survival of bloodstream form Trypanosoma brucei.},
	journal = {Eukaryot Cell},
	volume = {10},
	year = {2011},
	month = {2011 Jun},
	pages = {734-43},
	abstract = {Trypanosoma brucei, the causative agent of human African trypanosomiasis, has a complex life cycle that includes multiple life cycle stages and metabolic changes as the parasite switches between insect vector and mammalian host. The parasite{\textquoteright}s single mitochondrion contains a unique catenated mitochondrial DNA network called kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) that is composed of minicircles and maxicircles. Long-standing uncertainty about the requirement of kDNA in bloodstream form (BF) T. brucei has recently eroded, with reports of posttranscriptional editing and subsequent translation of kDNA-encoded transcripts as essential processes for BF parasites. These studies suggest that kDNA and its faithful replication are indispensable for this life cycle stage. Here we demonstrate that three kDNA replication proteins (mitochondrial DNA polymerases IB, IC, and ID) are required for BF parasite viability. Silencing of each polymerase was lethal, resulting in kDNA loss, persistence of prereplication DNA monomers, and collapse of the mitochondrial membrane potential. These data demonstrate that kDNA replication is indeed crucial for BF T. brucei. The contributions of mitochondrial DNA polymerases IB, IC, and ID to BF parasite viability suggest that these and other kDNA replication proteins warrant further investigation as a new class of targets for the development of antitrypanosomal drugs.},
	keywords = {Cell Survival, Cells, Cultured, DNA Replication, DNA, Kinetoplast, DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase, Humans, Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial, Mitochondria, Parasitemia, RNA Interference, Trypanosoma brucei brucei, Trypanosomiasis, African},
	issn = {1535-9786},
	doi = {10.1128/EC.05008-11},
	author = {Bruhn, David F and Sammartino, Mark P and Klingbeil, Michele M}
}
@article {386,
	title = {Trypanosoma brucei has two distinct mitochondrial DNA polymerase beta enzymes.},
	journal = {J Biol Chem},
	volume = {278},
	year = {2003},
	month = {2003 Dec 5},
	pages = {49095-101},
	abstract = {In higher eukaryotes, DNA polymerase (pol) beta resides in the nucleus and participates primarily in DNA repair. The DNA polymerase beta from the trypanosomatid Crithidia fasciculata, however, was the first mitochondrial enzyme of this type described. Upon searching the nearly completed genome data base of the related parasite Trypanosoma brucei, we discovered genes for two pol beta-like proteins. One is approximately 70\% identical to the C. fasciculata pol beta and is likely the homolog of this enzyme. The other, although approximately 30\% identical within the polymerase region, has unusual structural features including a short C-terminal tail and a long N-terminal extension rich in prolines, alanines, and lysines. Both proteins, when expressed recombinantly, are active as DNA polymerases and deoxyribose phosphate lyases, but their polymerase activity optima differ with respect to pH and KCl and MgCl2 concentrations. Remarkably, green fluorescent protein fusion proteins and immunofluorescence demonstrate that both are mitochondrial, but their locations with respect to the mitochondrial DNA (kinetoplast DNA network) in this organism are strikingly different.},
	keywords = {Animals, Base Sequence, Cell Line, DNA Polymerase beta, DNA Primers, Isoenzymes, Mitochondria, Recombinant Proteins, Trypanosoma brucei brucei},
	issn = {0021-9258},
	doi = {10.1074/jbc.M308565200},
	author = {Saxowsky, Tina T and Choudhary, Gunjan and Klingbeil, Michele M and Englund, Paul T}
}
