The kinetoplast DNA structure of Trypanosoma cf. carassii

Abstract

The structure of the kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) network of fish trypanosomes is described for the first time. The kDNA was isolated from lysed cells of trypanosomes grown in culture by differential centrifugation combined with chloroform-isoamyl alcohol extraction. Electron microscopy of spread DNA networks revealed the existence of two kinds of mutually interlocked circular molecules. The maxicircle size was 27.5 ± 2.5 kbp (kilobase pairs) and that of the predominant minicircles 1.9 ± 0.1 kbp.