SUMOylation in Trypanosoma brucei.

Small ubiquitin like modifier (SUMO) proteins are involved in many processes in eukaryotes. We here show that Trypanosoma brucei SUMO (Tb927.5.3210) modifies many proteins. The levels of SUMOylation were unaffected by temperature changes but were increased by severe oxidative stress. We obtained evidence that trypanosome homologues of the SUMO conjugating enzyme Ubc9 (Tb927.2.2460) and the SUMO-specific protease SENP (Tb927.9.2220) are involved in SUMOylation and SUMO removal, respectively.