A GENE ASSOCIATED WITH CELL-DIVISION AND DRUG-RESISTANCE IN GIARDIA-DUODENALIS

A 3000 bp cDNA insert (G6/1) from Giardia duodenalis, cloned into Escherichia coli is located on chromosome 3 of Giardia stocks which have 3 chromosomes detectable by field-inversion gel electrophoresis in the range 650-800 kb and on chromosome 3 and/or 4 of stocks with 4 chromosomes in this size range. The loss of this sequence from chromosome 4 but not chromosome 3 was associated with the induction of drug resistance in a previously sensitive laboratory stock. G6/1 appears to represent a single copy gene in Giardia as determined by hybridization of the probe to cleaved genomic DNA. Furthermore, the sequences flanking at least 12 kb of G6/1 are the same when G6/1 appears on both chromosomes 3 and 4. The cDNA encodes a protein associated with the nuclei of trophozoites during some stages of growth of the parasite. In a non-dividing culture, the antigen is associated with the nuclei of about 30% of trophozoites and fewer in a dividing culture. Three Giardia stocks with obvious chromosome rearrangements, which grow poorly and fail to divide normally, apparently lack the DNA sequence G6/1.