Parasite epigenetics and immune evasion: lessons from budding yeast.

The remarkable ability of many parasites to evade host immunity is the key to their success and pervasiveness. The immune evasion is directly linked to the silencing of the members of extended families of genes that encode for major parasite antigens. At any time only one of these genes is active.

Analysis of epigenetic stability and conversions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae reveals a novel role of CAF-I in position-effect variegation.

Position-effect variegation (PEV) phenotypes are characterized by the robust multigenerational repression of a gene located at a certain locus (often called gene silencing) and occasional conversions to fully active state. Consequently, the active state then persists with occasional conversions to the repressed state. These effects are mediated by the establishment and maintenance of heterochromatin or euchromatin structures, respectively.