Genomic environment of variant surface antigen genes of Trypanosoma equiperdum.

Expression of variant antigen genes in Trypanosoma equiperdum is accompanied by the duplication of a silent basic copy gene and the transposition of the copy to an expression site elsewhere in the genome. We have analyzed the genomic locations of both the basic and expression-linked copies of the T. equiperdum gene for variable surface glycoprotein VSG-1. Both copies are situated proximal to termini in both extracted DNA and in chromatin. The regions between the VSG-1 genes and the termini have a very high buoyant density in CsCl and contain an unidentified nucleoside that replaces deoxycytidine.