: Leishmania is a parasitic protozoa, which is the causative agent of Leishmaniasis. This disease is the cause of significant morbidity and mortality throughout the tropical area of the world. The development of effective treatments has been hampered by the difficulty in isolating virulence genes. The goal of this proposal is to develop a genetic tool which will enable us to easily isolate mutants. RNAi is becoming a powerftil tool for whole-genome functional analysis in other organisms. The ability to eliminate gene expression by targeting the homologous mRNA instead of the gene makes RNAi a potentially powerful technique in this asexual diploid organism. Therefore, it is the goal of this proposal to determine the elements necessary to eliminate gene expression by RNAi.
The specific aims of this proposal will determine the region of the gene necessary, whether the dsRNA or ssRNA is required, the requirement of Leishmania processing signals and the level of RNA expression.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F32)
Project #
5F32AI050339-03
Application #
6603297
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-TMP (01))
Program Officer
Rogers, Martin J
Project Start
2002-07-01
Project End
Budget Start
2003-07-01
Budget End
2004-06-30
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2003
Total Cost
$48,148
Indirect Cost
Name
Washington University
Department
Microbiology/Immun/Virology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
068552207
City
Saint Louis
State
MO
Country
United States
Zip Code
63130
Robinson, Kelly A; Goyard, Sophie; Beverley, Stephen M (2004) In vitro shuttle mutagenesis using engineered mariner transposons. Methods Mol Biol 270:299-318
Robinson, Kelly A; Beverley, Stephen M (2003) Improvements in transfection efficiency and tests of RNA interference (RNAi) approaches in the protozoan parasite Leishmania. Mol Biochem Parasitol 128:217-28