Trypanin, a component of the flagellar Dynein regulatory complex, is essential in bloodstream form African trypanosomes

The Trypanosoma brucei flagellum is a multifunctional organelle with critical roles in motility, cellular morphogenesis, and cell division. Although motility is thought to be important throughout the trypanosome lifecycle, most studies of flagellum structure and function have been restricted to the procyclic lifecycle stage, and our knowledge of the bloodstream form flagellum is limited. We have previously shown that trypanin functions as part of a flagellar dynein regulatory system that transmits regulatory signals from the central pair apparatus and radial spokes to axonemal dyneins. Here we investigate the requirement for this dynein regulatory system in bloodstream form trypanosomes. We demonstrate that trypanin is localized to the flagellum of bloodstream form trypanosomes, in a pattern identical to that seen in procyclic cells. Surprisingly, trypanin RNA interference is lethal in the bloodstream form. These knockdown mutants fail to initiate cytokinesis, but undergo multiple rounds of organelle replication, accumulating multiple flagella, nuclei, kinetoplasts, mitochondria, and flagellum attachment zone structures. These findings suggest that normal flagellar beat is essential in bloodstream form trypanosomes and underscore the emerging concept that there is a dichotomy between trypanosome lifecycle stages with respect to factors that contribute to cell division and cell morphogenesis. This is the first time that a defined dynein regulatory complex has been shown to be essential in any organism and implicates the dynein regulatory complex and other enzymatic regulators of flagellar motility as candidate drug targets for the treatment of African sleeping sickness.