Mitochondrial DNA Structure in <i>Trypanosoma cruzi</i>
Kinetoplastids display a single, large mitochondrion per cell, with their mitochondrial DNA referred to as the kinetoplast. This kinetoplast is a network of concatenated circular molecules comprising a maxicircle (20–64 kb) and up to thousands of minicircles varying in size depending on the species...
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2025-01-01
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| author | Alfonso Herreros-Cabello Francisco Callejas-Hernández Manuel Fresno Núria Gironès |
| author_facet | Alfonso Herreros-Cabello Francisco Callejas-Hernández Manuel Fresno Núria Gironès |
| author_sort | Alfonso Herreros-Cabello |
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| description | Kinetoplastids display a single, large mitochondrion per cell, with their mitochondrial DNA referred to as the kinetoplast. This kinetoplast is a network of concatenated circular molecules comprising a maxicircle (20–64 kb) and up to thousands of minicircles varying in size depending on the species (0.5–10 kb). In <i>Trypanosoma cruzi</i>, maxicircles contain typical mitochondrial genes found in other eukaryotes. They consist of coding and divergent/variable regions, complicating their assembly due to repetitive elements. However, next-generation sequencing (NGS) methods have resolved these issues, enabling the complete sequencing of maxicircles from different strains. Furthermore, several insertions and deletions in the maxicircle sequences have been identified among strains, affecting specific genes. Unique to kinetoplastids, minicircles play a crucial role in a particular U-insertion/deletion RNA editing system by encoding guide RNAs (gRNAs). These gRNAs are essential for editing and maturing maxicircle mRNAs. In <i>Trypanosoma cruzi</i>, although only a few studies have utilized NGS methods to date, the structure of these molecules suggests a classification into four main groups of minicircles. This classification is based on their size and the number of highly conserved regions (mHCRs) and hypervariable regions (mHVRs). |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-862ec767289c4a8b9ec39017ff565f45 |
| institution | Kabale University |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
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| spelling | doaj-art-862ec767289c4a8b9ec39017ff565f452025-01-24T13:44:48ZengMDPI AGPathogens2076-08172025-01-011417310.3390/pathogens14010073Mitochondrial DNA Structure in <i>Trypanosoma cruzi</i>Alfonso Herreros-Cabello0Francisco Callejas-Hernández1Manuel Fresno2Núria Gironès3Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, SpainBloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USACentro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, SpainCentro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, SpainKinetoplastids display a single, large mitochondrion per cell, with their mitochondrial DNA referred to as the kinetoplast. This kinetoplast is a network of concatenated circular molecules comprising a maxicircle (20–64 kb) and up to thousands of minicircles varying in size depending on the species (0.5–10 kb). In <i>Trypanosoma cruzi</i>, maxicircles contain typical mitochondrial genes found in other eukaryotes. They consist of coding and divergent/variable regions, complicating their assembly due to repetitive elements. However, next-generation sequencing (NGS) methods have resolved these issues, enabling the complete sequencing of maxicircles from different strains. Furthermore, several insertions and deletions in the maxicircle sequences have been identified among strains, affecting specific genes. Unique to kinetoplastids, minicircles play a crucial role in a particular U-insertion/deletion RNA editing system by encoding guide RNAs (gRNAs). These gRNAs are essential for editing and maturing maxicircle mRNAs. In <i>Trypanosoma cruzi</i>, although only a few studies have utilized NGS methods to date, the structure of these molecules suggests a classification into four main groups of minicircles. This classification is based on their size and the number of highly conserved regions (mHCRs) and hypervariable regions (mHVRs).https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/14/1/73<i>Trypanosoma cruzi</i>kinetoplastmaxicirclesminicircles |
| spellingShingle | Alfonso Herreros-Cabello Francisco Callejas-Hernández Manuel Fresno Núria Gironès Mitochondrial DNA Structure in <i>Trypanosoma cruzi</i> Pathogens <i>Trypanosoma cruzi</i> kinetoplast maxicircles minicircles |
| title | Mitochondrial DNA Structure in <i>Trypanosoma cruzi</i> |
| title_full | Mitochondrial DNA Structure in <i>Trypanosoma cruzi</i> |
| title_fullStr | Mitochondrial DNA Structure in <i>Trypanosoma cruzi</i> |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mitochondrial DNA Structure in <i>Trypanosoma cruzi</i> |
| title_short | Mitochondrial DNA Structure in <i>Trypanosoma cruzi</i> |
| title_sort | mitochondrial dna structure in i trypanosoma cruzi i |
| topic | <i>Trypanosoma cruzi</i> kinetoplast maxicircles minicircles |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/14/1/73 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT alfonsoherreroscabello mitochondrialdnastructureinitrypanosomacruzii AT franciscocallejashernandez mitochondrialdnastructureinitrypanosomacruzii AT manuelfresno mitochondrialdnastructureinitrypanosomacruzii AT nuriagirones mitochondrialdnastructureinitrypanosomacruzii |