For Publishers
DiscoveryMetadataPeer reviewHostingPublishing
For Researchers
JoinPublishReviewCollect
Register
Blog
About
Search
Advanced search
My ScienceOpen
Search
For Publishers
For Researchers
Blog
About
26
views
121
references
 Top references
cited by
48
    
0 reviews
 Review
0
comments
 Comment
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      714
      similar
       All similar
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: found
      Is Open Access

      ApiAP2 Transcription Factors in Apicomplexan Parasites

      review-article

      Read this article at

      ScienceOpenPublisherPMC
      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          Apicomplexan parasites are protozoan organisms that are characterised by complex life cycles and they include medically important species, such as the malaria parasite Plasmodium and the causative agents of toxoplasmosis ( Toxoplasma gondii) and cryptosporidiosis ( Cryptosporidium spp.). Apicomplexan parasites can infect one or more hosts, in which they differentiate into several morphologically and metabolically distinct life cycle stages. These developmental transitions rely on changes in gene expression. In the last few years, the important roles of different members of the ApiAP2 transcription factor family in regulating life cycle transitions and other aspects of parasite biology have become apparent. Here, we review recent progress in our understanding of the different members of the ApiAP2 transcription factor family in apicomplexan parasites.

          Related collections

          Most cited references121

          • Record: found
          • Abstract: found
          • Article: not found

          Discovery of gene function by expression profiling of the malaria parasite life cycle.

          Karine G Le Roch, Yingyao Zhou, Peter Blair … (2003)
          The completion of the genome sequence for Plasmodium falciparum, the species responsible for most malaria human deaths, has the potential to reveal hundreds of new drug targets and proteins involved in pathogenesis. However, only approximately 35% of the genes code for proteins with an identifiable function. The absence of routine genetic tools for studying Plasmodium parasites suggests that this number is unlikely to change quickly if conventional serial methods are used to characterize encoded proteins. Here, we use a high-density oligonucleotide array to generate expression profiles of human and mosquito stages of the malaria parasite's life cycle. Genes with highly correlated levels and temporal patterns of expression were often involved in similar functions or cellular processes.
          Article 0 comments Cited 413 times – based on 0 reviews     Review now
            Bookmark
            • Record: found
            • Abstract: found
            • Article: found
            Is Open Access

            Functional Profiling of a Plasmodium Genome Reveals an Abundance of Essential Genes

            Ellen Bushell, Ana Rita Gomes, Theo Sanderson … (2017)
            Summary The genomes of malaria parasites contain many genes of unknown function. To assist drug development through the identification of essential genes and pathways, we have measured competitive growth rates in mice of 2,578 barcoded Plasmodium berghei knockout mutants, representing >50% of the genome, and created a phenotype database. At a single stage of its complex life cycle, P. berghei requires two-thirds of genes for optimal growth, the highest proportion reported from any organism and a probable consequence of functional optimization necessitated by genomic reductions during the evolution of parasitism. In contrast, extreme functional redundancy has evolved among expanded gene families operating at the parasite-host interface. The level of genetic redundancy in a single-celled organism may thus reflect the degree of environmental variation it experiences. In the case of Plasmodium parasites, this helps rationalize both the relative successes of drugs and the greater difficulty of making an effective vaccine.
            Article 1 comments Cited 254 times – based on 0 reviews     Review now
              Bookmark
              • Record: found
              • Abstract: found
              • Article: not found

              Discovery of the principal specific transcription factors of Apicomplexa and their implication for the evolution of the AP2-integrase DNA binding domains

              S. Balaji, M. Babu, Lakshminarayan M. Iyer … (2005)
              The comparative genomics of apicomplexans, such as the malarial parasite Plasmodium, the cattle parasite Theileria and the emerging human parasite Cryptosporidium, have suggested an unexpected paucity of specific transcription factors (TFs) with DNA binding domains that are closely related to those found in the major families of TFs from other eukaryotes. This apparent lack of specific TFs is paradoxical, given that the apicomplexans show a complex developmental cycle in one or more hosts and a reproducible pattern of differential gene expression in course of this cycle. Using sensitive sequence profile searches, we show that the apicomplexans possess a lineage-specific expansion of a novel family of proteins with a version of the AP2 (Apetala2)-integrase DNA binding domain, which is present in numerous plant TFs. About 20–27 members of this apicomplexan AP2 (ApiAP2) family are encoded in different apicomplexan genomes, with each protein containing one to four copies of the AP2 DNA binding domain. Using gene expression data from Plasmodium falciparum, we show that guilds of ApiAP2 genes are expressed in different stages of intraerythrocytic development. By analogy to the plant AP2 proteins and based on the expression patterns, we predict that the ApiAP2 proteins are likely to function as previously unknown specific TFs in the apicomplexans and regulate the progression of their developmental cycle. In addition to the ApiAP2 family, we also identified two other novel families of AP2 DNA binding domains in bacteria and transposons. Using structure similarity searches, we also identified divergent versions of the AP2-integrase DNA binding domain fold in the DNA binding region of the PI-SceI homing endonuclease and the C-terminal domain of the pleckstrin homology (PH) domain-like modules of eukaryotes. Integrating these findings, we present a reconstruction of the evolutionary scenario of the AP2-integrase DNA binding domain fold, which suggests that it underwent multiple independent combinations with different types of mobile endonucleases or recombinases. It appears that the eukaryotic versions have emerged from versions of the domain associated with mobile elements, followed by independent lineage-specific expansions, which accompanied their recruitment to transcription regulation functions.
              Article 0 comments Cited 211 times – based on 0 reviews     Review now
                Bookmark
                All references

                Author and article information

                Journal
                Journal ID (nlm-ta): Pathogens
                Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Pathogens
                Journal ID (publisher-id): pathogens
                Title: Pathogens
                Publisher: MDPI
                ISSN (Electronic): 2076-0817
                Publication date (Electronic): 07 April 2019
                Publication date Collection: June 2019
                Volume: 8
                Issue: 2
                Electronic Location Identifier: 47
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Mikrobiologisches Institut—Klinische Mikrobiologie, Immunologie und Hygiene, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91054 Erlangen, Germany; myriam.jeninga@ 123456uk-erlangen.de (M.D.J.); jennifer.quinn@ 123456uk-erlangen.de (J.E.Q.)
                [2 ]Department of Medicine, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
                Author notes
                Author information
                https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8432-6045
                https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1837-2756
                Article
                Publisher ID: pathogens-08-00047
                DOI: 10.3390/pathogens8020047
                PMC ID: 6631176
                PubMed ID: 30959972
                SO-VID: 5ca85378-6341-4ea6-b0f5-957335061895
                Copyright © © 2019 by the authors.
                License:

                Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

                History
                Date received : 28 February 2019
                Date accepted : 28 March 2019
                Categories
                Subject: Review

                Keywords: apicomplexa,plasmodium,toxoplasma,cryptosporidium,malaria,gene regulation,transcription factor,apiap2,differentiation
                Data availability:
                Keywords: apicomplexa, plasmodium, toxoplasma, cryptosporidium, malaria, gene regulation, transcription factor, apiap2, differentiation

                Comments

                Comment on this article

                scite_

                Similar content714

                See all similar

                Cited by46

                See all cited by

                Most referenced authors1,849

                See all reference authors