The genes for small nucleolar RNAs in Trypanosoma brucei are organized in clusters and are transcribed as a polycistronic RNA
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Updated: Feb 10, 2026

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Published on: January 19, 2024
D A Dunbar1, A A Chen, S Wormsley
1Department of Therapeutic Radiology and Department of Genetics, Yale School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, PO Box 208040, New Haven, CT 06520-8040, USA.
Abstract:
Because the organization of snoRNA genes in vertebrates, plants and yeast is diverse, we investigated the organization of snoRNA genes in a distantly related organism, Trypanosoma brucei. We have characterized the second example of a snoRNA gene cluster that is tandemly repeated in the T.BRUCEI: genome. The genes encoding the box C/D snoRNAs TBR12, TBR6, TBR4 and TBR2 make up the cluster. In a genomic organization unique to trypanosomes, there are at least four clusters of these four snoRNA genes tandemly repeated in the T. BRUCEI: genome. We show for the first time that the genes encoding snoRNAs in both this cluster and the SLA cluster are transcribed in an unusual way as a polycistronic RNA.
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