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The Toxoplasma gondii Plastid replication and Repair Enzyme Complex, PREX

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 April 2009

A. MUKHOPADHYAY ,
C-Y. CHEN ,
C. DOERIG ,
F. L. HENRIQUEZ ,
C. W. ROBERTS  and
M. P. BARRETT
A. MUKHOPADHYAY
Affiliation:
Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Division of Infection and Immunity, Glasgow Biomedical Research Centre, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8TA, UK
C-Y. CHEN
Affiliation:
Joseph Gottstein Memorial Cancer Research Laboratory, Department of Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-7705, USA
C. DOERIG
Affiliation:
INSERM U609, Wellcome Centre for Molecular Parasitology, University of Glasgow, 120 University Place, Glasgow, G12 8TA, Scotland, UK. INSERM U609, Global Health Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausnne, Switzerland
F. L. HENRIQUEZ
Affiliation:
Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, 27 Taylor Street, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NR, UK
C. W. ROBERTS
Affiliation:
Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, 27 Taylor Street, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NR, UK
M. P. BARRETT*
Affiliation:
Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Division of Infection and Immunity, Glasgow Biomedical Research Centre, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8TA, UK
*
*Corresponding author: Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Division of Infection and Immunity, Glasgow Biomedical Research Centre, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8TA, UK.
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Summary

A plastid-like organelle, the apicoplast, is essential to the majority of medically and veterinary important apicomplexan protozoa including Toxoplasma gondii and Plasmodium. The apicoplast contains multiple copies of a 35 kb genome, the replication of which is dependent upon nuclear-encoded proteins that are imported into the organelle. In P. falciparum an unusual multi-functional gene, pfprex, was previously identified and inferred to encode a protein with DNA primase, DNA helicase and DNA polymerase activities. Herein, we report the presence of a prex orthologue in T. gondii. The protein is predicted to have a bi-partite apicoplast targeting sequence similar to that demonstrated on the PfPREX polypeptide, capable of delivering marker proteins to the apicoplast. Unlike the P. falciparum gene that is devoid of introns, the T. gondii prex gene carries 19 introns, which are spliced to produce a contiguous mRNA. Bacterial expression of the polymerase domain reveals the protein to be active. Consistent with the reported absence of a plastid in Cryptosporidium species, in silico analysis of their genomes failed to demonstrate an orthologue of prex. These studies indicate that prex is conserved across the plastid-bearing apicomplexans and may play an important role in the replication of the plastid genome.

Keywords

ApicomplexaDNA replicationPlasmodium falciparumToxoplasma gondiiexonintronDNA polymeraseDNA primaseDNA helicase
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 136 , Issue 7 , June 2009 , pp. 747 - 755
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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