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Chromatin Structure and Function

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Encyclopedia of Malaria

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Synonyms

Antigenic variation; Epigenetic regulation; Genome organization; Histone modifications; Histone variants; Histones; Nuclear architecture

Definition

In eukaryotes, the genetic material is packaged into a higher-order structure called chromatin. Chromatin is composed of DNA, histone, and nonhistone proteins as well as noncoding RNAs and organizes the genetic material into district chromosomes. While in plasmodia the 14 chromosomes do not appear to condense into discrete structures during cell division, chromatin is nonetheless essential for the replication and segregation of the chromosomes to the daughter cells. Furthermore, chromatin plays essential functions in the regulation of nearly all DNA-associated processes, such as RNA transcription, DNA replication, and DNA repair. Our understanding of chromatin-mediated epigenetics in plasmodia principally results from studies in P. falciparum and is therefore the focus of the evidence provided here.

Chromatin Structure

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Biology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, 6525, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Richard Bartfai

  2. Department of Entomology, College of Agricultural Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Liwang Cui & Jun Miao

  3. School of Medicine, Keele University, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, ST5 5BG, UK

    Paul Horrocks

Authors
  1. Richard Bartfai
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  2. Liwang Cui
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  3. Paul Horrocks
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  4. Jun Miao
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Richard Bartfai .

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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Bartfai, R., Cui, L., Horrocks, P., Miao, J. (2013). Chromatin Structure and Function. In: Hommel, M., Kremsner, P. (eds) Encyclopedia of Malaria. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8757-9_49-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8757-9_49-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-8757-9

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