Vector genomics and arthropod-borne diseases in Africa
Date
29-01-12Author
Laila, Abubakar
Martina, Kyallo
Roger, Pelle
Type
PresentationLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Mosquitoes and tsetse flies are among the most important vectors that transmit malaria, dengue,
encephalitis, filariasis and African trypanosomosis.
Genomics and bioinformatics tools have contributed to a
better understanding of the interactions between these arthropod vectors and the disease causing parasites
that they transmit and provided new insights in the fight against these diseases
.
Recent stu
dies have
uncovered the Glossina proteolytic lectin (Gpl) that is associated with the transformation of the bloodstream
trypomastigotes into the procyclic forms within the midgut of the tsetse. This is a crucial step for
establishment of infection in the i
nsect host.
In this study, we identified the putative trypanosome protein (s)
that act as interacting partner (s) of
Gpl using the GAL4 Yeast
-
Two
-
Hybrid system. The complete ORF of
the Gpl gene from
Glossina fuscipes
was used as a bait to fish for gene(s)
present in a cDNA
-
AD fusion
library constructed
in vivo
from the bloodstream forms of
Trypanosoma brucei brucei
.
False positive clones
were eliminated by using ADE2, HIS3, LacZ reporter genes and segregation analysis. On the other hand,
the
putative
posit
ive
library
c
lones were
identified
, sequenced and analyzed by bioinformatics
.
Nucleotide
sequence showed 97% identity with a hypothetical
Trypanosoma brucei
gene and a 5% identity with a
serine
-
rich
protein
from
Shizosaccharomyces pombe
.
Interestingly, al
l the positive clones had undergone a
deletion, a recombination that resulted as an outcome of toxicity after a strong positive protein
-
protein
interaction.
This
may
explain why susceptible bloodstream trypanosomes quickly transform into the procyclic
form
s in the tsetse midgut to escape lysis and ensure their
surviv
al within
the hostile midgut environment.
URI
http://profiles.uonbi.ac.ke/labubakar/files/abstract_fasbmb.pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/11295/29014
Citation
Federation of African Societies of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Congress, 29 January 2012, Drakensberg, South Africa, (2012)Publisher
University of Nairobi Department of Biochemistry