CHARACTERIZATION OF THE DISRUPTED LOCUS IN A TOXOPLASMA GONDII BRADYZOITE DIFFER

该子项目是利用NIH/NCRR资助的中心赠款提供的资源的许多研究子项目之一。子项目和研究者（PI）可能从另一个NIH来源获得主要资金，因此可以在其他CRISP条目中表示。所列机构为中心机构，不一定为研究者机构。人类病原体弓形虫是分布最广泛的原生动物寄生虫之一，感染了大约三分之一的世界？的人口。两种类型的T.弓形虫;快速生长？速殖子？和潜伏期缓殖子？组织囊肿这两个发育阶段是疾病传播和病因的核心。速殖子和缓殖子之间的相互转化是寄生虫生存和致病性的核心，在分子和遗传水平上知之甚少，这使得理解这一过程成为一个重要目标。最近，开发了一种遗传筛选来鉴定控制寄生虫分化的调控基因，并且已经分离出在分化条件下不能转化为缓殖子的突变体。这些突变体之一（突变体B7）中的破坏位点已被鉴定，发育调节转录本（B41）的表达已在突变体寄生虫中被消除。B41是转录的，但它不包含明显的开放阅读框架。该项目的目标是功能特性的突变体B7中的破坏位点和测试的假设，该位点的编码功能的非编码RNA，在缓殖子形成中起着关键作用。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The human pathogen Toxoplasma gondii is one of the most widely distributed protozoan parasites, infecting approximately one-third of the world?s population. Two forms characterize asexual reproduction of T. gondii; rapidly growing ?tachyzoites? and latent ?bradyzoite? tissue cysts. These two developmental stages are central to disease propagation and causation. The interconversion between tachyzoites and bradyzoites, at the heart of parasite survival and pathogenicity, is poorly understood at a molecular and genetic level, which makes understanding this process an important goal. Recently, a genetic screen was developed to identify regulatory genes that control parasite differentiation and mutants that fail to convert to bradyzoites under differentiation conditions have been isolated. The disrupted locus in one of these mutants (mutant B7) has been identified and the expression of a developmentally regulated transcript (B41) has been abolished in the mutant parasites. B41 is transcribed; yet it contains no obvious open reading frame. The goal of this project is to functionally characterize the disrupted locus in the mutant B7 and test the hypothesis that this locus codes for a functional non-coding RNA that plays a critical role in bradyzoite formation.