FUNCTIONAL-MORPHOLOGY OF TRYPANOSOME CHROMATIN

The major part of the genetic information of eukaryotes is packed into chromosomes within the nucleus. Interactions of histones, nonhistone proteins and DNA ploy a central part in chromatin structure as well as in gene regulation. Parasites living in tissue spaces or even intracellularly, such os trypanosomes, are hardly eliminated by currently used drugs. If their packing of the genetic information and their gene regulation were to diverge from those of higher eukaryotes, new possibilities in the fight against trypanosomal infections would open up. Investigations of the east few years have revealed a chromatin organization of trypanosomes that differs in various parameters from that of their possible hosts, as discussed here by Hermann Hecker, Bruno Betschart Markus Burri and Wolfram Schlimme.