The 85-kd surface antigen gene of Trypanosoma cruzi is telomeric and a member of a multigene family.

In previous studies we identified a 500 bp DNA fragment from the genome of Trypanosoma cruzi which encoded epitopes present in an 85 kd trypomastigote-specific surface antigen. A unique feature of this DNA insert was the presence of a 27 bp tandem repeat unit within the putative coding region. The findings presented here show that the gene which encodes this particular surface protein is a member of a multigene family, and that the 27 bp repeat unit defines a subset of this family. Only four separate members of the family contain sequences homologous to the 27 bp repeat unit. Of these, three have been cloned and shown by direct nucleotide sequence analysis not to contain the original 500 bp fragment. By restriction enzyme analysis, the 500 bp fragment is inferred to be present in a 5.4 kb EcoRI genomic DNA fragment that is refractory to isolation by standard cloning procedures. Preferential sensitivity of this fragment to digestion with Bal31 nuclease indicates that it is likely to be telomeric, thus explaining the inability to obtain it in several different recombinant DNA libraries. In order to determine which of the four members were transcribed, 26 cDNA recombinants having sequence homology with the 27 bp repeat were examined. Restriction enzyme maps and nucleotide sequence analysis of these cDNAs indicate that transcription occurs almost exclusively from the telomeric member of the family.