38th Annual Meeting of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology

The genome sequencing projects of several important apocomplexan parasite species have contributed greatly to our understanding of the parasite metabolism, evolution and pathobiology. The sequencing of several malaria parasite species has revealed novel metabolic pathways, identified a novel organelle - the apicoplast, and determined molecules that are potential targets for drug and vaccine development. In the postgenome era, analytic tools such as microarrays and proteomics allow gene analysis to be performed on a genome-wide scale. The recently developed transfection technology for the malaria parasites has further enabled functional analysis of individual genes through targeted gene disruption. To understand the transcription regulation in the malaria parasites, we have undertaken efforts to study the effects of dynamic chromatin modifications in gene silencing and activation. We have begun to characterize enzymes and their complexes that covalently acetylate histones. This study may yield new information about the roles of these evolutionarily conserved enzymes in transcription regulation in this group of lower protozoan parasites. This may further establish a direct link between histone acetylation and parasite virulence, which is mostly determined by the monoallelic expression of surface variant proteins. Technologies and results obtained should be applicable to other apicomplexan parasites.