Unconventional kinetoplastid kinetochores
My group studies kinetochores in evolutionarily-distant eukaryotes, called kinetoplastids. We discovered a unique set of kinetochore proteins (KKT1–20) in Trypanosoma brucei, a kinetoplastid parasite that causes sleeping sickness in humans. We are currently characterizing the function of these unconventional kinetochore proteins to reveal fundamental principles of the eukaryotic segregation machinery.
Keywords
Kinetochore / mitosis / chromosome / trypanosome / kinetoplastid / centromere / Trypanosoma brucei