Toxoplasma gondii aspartic protease 1 is not essential in tachyzoites.

Valerie Polonais (1) , Michael Shea (2) , Dominique Soldati-Favre (3)

1 LMGE - Laboratoire Microorganismes : Génome et Environnement
2 Division of Parasitology, National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London NW7 1AA, UK
3 Département de Microbiologie et Médecine moléculaire

Aspartic proteases are important virulence factors for pathogens and are recognized as attractive drug targets. Seven aspartic proteases (ASPs) have been identified in Toxoplasma gondii genome. Bioinformatics and phylogenetic analyses regroup them into five monophyletic groups. Among them, TgASP1, a coccidian specific aspartic protease related to the food vacuole plasmepsins, is associated with the secretory pathway in non-dividing cells and relocalizes in close proximity to the nascent inner membrane complex (IMC) of daughter cells during replication. Despite a potential role for TgASP1 in IMC formation, the generation of a conventional knockout of the TgASP1 gene revealed that this protease is not required for T. gondii tachyzoite survival or for proper IMC biogenesis.

Domaines: Protistologie

Valerie Polonais, Michael Shea, Dominique Soldati-Favre. Toxoplasma gondii aspartic protease 1 is not essential in tachyzoites.. Experimental Parasitology, 2011, 128 (4), pp.454-9. ⟨10.1016/j.exppara.2011.05.003⟩. ⟨hal-00820561⟩