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Volume 146, Issue 2

appears to lack a plastid genome Free

Abstract

Surprisingly, unlike most Apicomplexa, appears to lack a plastid genome. Primers based upon the highly conserved plastid small- or large-subunit rRNA (SSU/LSU rRNA) and the -tRNA genes of other members of the phylum Apicomplexa failed to amplify products from intracellular stages of , whereas products were obtained from the plastid-containing apicomplexans and , as well as the plants and . Dot-blot hybridization of sporozoite genomic DNA (gDNA) supported these PCR results. A plastid-specific set of probes containing SSU/LSU rRNA and -tRNA genes strongly hybridized to gDNA from a diverse group of plastid-containing organisms including three Apicomplexa, two plants, and , but not to those without this organelle including , three kinetoplastids, the yeast , mammals and the eubacterium . Since the origin of the plastid in other apicomplexans is postulated to be the result of a secondary symbiogenesis of either a red or a green alga, the most parsimonious explanation for its absence in is that it has been secondarily lost. If confirmed, this would indicate an alternative evolutionary fate for this organelle in one member of the Apicomplexa. It also suggests that unlike the situation with other diseases caused by members of the Apicomplexa, drug development against cryptosporidiosis targeting a plastid genome or metabolic pathways associated with it may not be useful.

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
  • Revised:
  • Published Online:
Keyword(s): apicoplast , chloroplast , Cryptosporidium parvum , FAS, fatty acid synthase , gDNA, genomic DNA , LSU, large subunit , plastid genome and SSU, small subunit
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2000-02-01
2024-04-27
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Cryptosporidium parvum appears to lack a plastid genome
Microbiology 146, 315 (2000); https://doi.org/10.1099/00221287-146-2-315
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-146-2-315
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-146-2-315
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