The kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) of trypanosomes is comprised of thousands of DNA minicircles and 20-50 maxicircles catenated into a single network. We show that kinetoplasts isolated from the trypanosomatid species Crithidia fasciculata incorporate labeled nucleotides and support minicircle DNA replication in a manner which mimics two characteristics of minicircle replication in vivo: 1) the minicir...

A simple method was developed for the characterization of different strains of Trypanosoma cruzi. T. cruzi stocks isolated from vectors or by hemoculture from patients with Chagas disease could be grouped in subpopulations having similar patterns of restriction endonuclease products of kinetoplast DNA minicircles. We designate such subpopulations by the term "schizodemes." Furthermore, it is sh...

Polo-like kinases (PLKs) are conserved eukaryotic cell cycle regulators, which play multiple roles, particularly during mitosis. The function of Trypanosoma brucei PLK was investigated in procyclic and bloodstream-form parasites. In procyclic trypanosomes, RNA interference (RNAi) of PLK, or overexpression of TY1-epitope-tagged PLK (PLKty), but not overexpression of a kinase-dead variant, result...

Kinetoplast DNA Network: Evolution of an Improbable Structure Julius Lukeš,* D. Lys Guilbride,† Jan Votýpka, Alena Zíková, Rob Benne, and Paul T. Englund Institute of Parasitology, Czech Academy of Sciences, and Faculty of Biology, University of South Bohemia, Českě Budějovice, and Faculty of Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic; Department of Biochemistry, University of Amsterd...

Mitonafide (4-nitro-benzoisoquinolinedione) and a number of structural analogs were synthesized and studied in order to determine the structural requirements for inhibition of leishmanial nuclear and kinetoplast topoisomerase II and human topoisomerase II. The structure-activity relationship studies with the mitonafide analogs demonstrated that there was selective targeting of leishmanial nucle...

Dyskinetoplastic cells from both Crithidia fasciculata and Trypanosoma equiperdum lack detectable kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) by conventional staining techniques. Two dyskinetoplastic strains of T. equiperdum, either acriflavine-induced or spontaneously occurring, show normal amounts of kDNA (p = 1.692 g/cm3) in analytical caesium chloride, ultracentrifugation. Electron and fluorescence microscopy o...