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Encyclopedia of Malaria pp 1–10Cite as

Nucleosome

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Synonyms

Histone: DNA packaging unit

Definition

A nucleosome is the basic unit of chromatin consisting of ~147 bp of DNA wrapped around a core of eight histone proteins. The positioning of nucleosomes along the genome is involved in regulating accessibility of DNA to the transcription machinery and other regulatory proteins.

Introduction

Understanding the development of the malaria parasite during its complex life cycle continues to be an important focus of malaria research. Chromatin structure and nucleosome positioning play an important role in transcriptional regulation in all eukaryotic cells and thus in progression of the parasite through the different developmental stages in both the human and the mosquito host. Since Plasmodium falciparumis the major human malaria parasite and the only human malaria parasite that can be cultured in vitro, all studies on nucleosome positioning have been performed in this species. In addition, research has mainly focused on the intraerythrocytic...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cell Biology & Neuroscience, University of California Riverside, Institute for Integrative Genome Biology, Center for Disease Vector Research, 92521, Riverside, CA, USA

    Evelien M. Bunnik & Karine G. Le Roch

Authors
  1. Evelien M. Bunnik
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  2. Karine G. Le Roch
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Evelien M. Bunnik .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Heswall, United Kingdom

    Marcel Hommel

  2. Institut für Tropenmedizin, Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

    Peter G. Kremsner

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Bunnik, E.M., Le Roch, K.G. (2013). Nucleosome. In: Hommel, M., Kremsner, P. (eds) Encyclopedia of Malaria. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8757-9_31-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8757-9_31-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-8757-9

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