Trypanosoma brucei ATR Links DNA Damage Signaling during Antigenic Variation with Regulation of RNA Polymerase I-Transcribed Surface Antigens (Cell Reports)

Black et al. show that the loss of ATR, a DNA damage-signaling kinase, is lethal to African trypanosomes and has two effects on surface VSG antigen expression: loss of controls ensuring that only one VSG is transcribed at once, and increased DNA damage that leads to the recombination of normally silent VSGs.