Characterization of the BFD2-bound transcriptome in chronic-stage T. gondii

The acute-to-chronic stage transition in Toxoplasma gondii involes a global restructuring of the parasite transcriptome and can be induced by alkaline stress. Prior work identified the master regulator of this process: a MYB-like transcription factor named BFD1 that is specifically induced under stress and is both necessary and sufficient to drive differentiation. Recently, we found that parasites lacking a CCCH-type zinc finger RNA-binding protein (BFD2) are also unable to produce chronic forms due to an inability to robustly express BFD1. To test whether the influence of BFD2 on BFD1 expression involves interaction with this or other transcripts, we performed BFD2 immunoprecipitation and sequencing (RIP-seq) under alkaline stress. Overall design: HA-BFD2 was immunoprecipitated from alkaline-stressed parasites and enriched transcripts (as well as an unenriched 'input' sample) were analyzed by next generation sequencing.