The serum resistance-associated (SRA) gene of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense encodes a variant surface glycoprotein-like protein

Abstract

In the Trypanosoma brucei species, T. b. rhodesiense and T. b. gambiense represent the human infective host range variants, while T. b. brucei is lysed upon exposure to a cytotoxic factor in normal human serum. T. b. rhodesiense can occur in a serum-resistant and a serum-sensitive form. The resistance towards normal human serum was shown to be a labile character and to be determined by the environment in which the parasites live. We have clearly demonstrated the presence of RNA transcripts unique to the resistant forms of T. b. rhodesiense. These transcripts encode a protein with VSG characteristics. The DNA fragment isolated previously, which hybridises with the resistance-specific mRNA sequence, appears to be a pseudogene belonging to the same gene family.