NEW EMBO MEMBER'S REVIEW Life without transcriptional control? From fly to man and back again

摘要: All organisms adapt to changes in their environment by adjustments gene expression, and all organisms, from Escherichia coli man, the most important control point is at transcription initiation. All, that is, except those belonging one very small family of early‐branching eukaryotes, which seems have completely lost ability regulate RNA polymerase II. The concerned are unicellular, spindle‐ like flagellates flourish digestive systems arthropods, blood, macrophages brains vertebrates humans lizards, even sap coconut palms lemon trees. Many them able multiply both a vertebrate (or plant) an invertebrate, serves transmit parasites next. Adaptation two distinct environments, with different temperatures, nutrients defences, requires major expression. Yet this be achieved total absence any developmental regulation II; perhaps without specific II This extraordinary state affairs might written off as irrelevant evolutionary quirk (and, indeed, gone unnoticed) if it were not for fact some concerned, trypanosomes leishmanias, kill millions people every year (http://www.who.ch). The leishmanias cause spectrum diseases ranging self‐resolving skin ulcers lethal infection internal organs. One‐and‐a‐half million newly infected tropics southern Europe. Leishmania has extracellular form gut vector, sand‐fly, but spherical aflagellate forms within lysosomes mammalian macrophages. must phagocytosed activating host macrophage combat oxidative, acidic proteolytic stresses. The South …