(original) (raw)

TY - JOUR AU - Robinson, Derrick R. AU - Gull, Keith PY - 1991 DA - 1991/08/01 TI - Basal body movements as a mechanism for mitochondrial genome segregation in the trypanosome cell cycle JO - Nature SP - 731 EP - 733 VL - 352 IS - 6337 AB - THE mitochondrial genome of Trypanosoma brucei is organized in the form of a complex catenated network of circular DNA molecules. This mass of DNA, known as the kinetoplast, is present at a unique site in the single mitochondrion, and is replicated in a discrete, periodic S phase of the cell cycle. The single-copy nature of the kinetoplast suggests that there is a mechanism ensuring segregation fidelity of replicated copies to each daughter cell. Historically, speculation regarding the nature of this mechanism has often attributed significance to the close association between the kinetoplast and the flagellum basal body. We provide here direct evidence that this mitochondrial DNA complex is indeed linked to the basal body, and segregation of the kinetoplast DNA is dependent on a microtubule-mediated separation of the new and old flagellar basal bodies during the cell cycle. This unique system may represent the remnants of an evolutionary archaic mechanism for genome segregation. SN - 1476-4687 UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/352731a0 DO - 10.1038/352731a0 ID - Robinson1991 ER -