We have compared the transcriptomes of cultured procyclic Trypanosoma brucei cells in early and late logarithmic phases and found that ∼200 mRNAs were differentially regulated. In late log phase cells, the most upregulated mRNA encoded the nucleobase transporter NT8. The 3′ untranslated region (UTR) of NT8 contains a short stem-loop cis-element that is necessary for the regulation of NT8 expression in response to external purine levels. When placed in the 3′-UTR of an unregulated transcript, the cis-element is sufficient to confer regulation in response to purines. To our knowledge, this is the first example of a discrete RNA element that can autonomously regulate gene expression in trypanosomes in response to an external factor and reveals an unprecedented purine-dependent signaling pathway that controls gene expression in eukaryotes. © 2014 The Author(s) 2014.
CITATION STYLE
Fernández-Moya, S. M., Carrington, M., & Estévez, A. M. (2014). A short RNA stem-loop is necessary and sufficient for repression of gene expression during early logarithmic phase in trypanosomes. Nucleic Acids Research, 42(11), 7201–7209. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gku358
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