Kinetoplast Division Factors in a Trypanosome
Highlights
- Kinetoplasts (mitochondrial genome nucleoids) are important in bloodstream trypanosomes for the establishment of mitochondrial membrane potential.
- Many proteins involved in segregation of kinetoplasts have been identified.
- A region between a kinetoplast and basal bodies is described as a tripartite attachment complex (TAC).
- A set of TAC-associated proteins (TACAPs) has been proposed as the machinery for kinetoplast segregation.
- Subcomplexes of TACAPs that form in vivo have been described.
- Several proteins that do not associate with TAC are involved in the maintenance of the kinetoplast.
- New kinetoplast-associated proteins have been identified.
- We are approaching an exciting period in the field when a molecular understanding of how all aspects of kinetoplast biogenesis are executed seems achievable.
Kojo Mensa-Wilmot, Benjamin Hoffman, Justin Wiedman, Catherine Sullenberger, Amrita Sharma. 2019. Trends in Parasitology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pt.2018.11.002