Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Unveiling Histone Proteoforms using 2D-TAU Gel Electrophoresis
Published on: October 18, 2024
Evolutionary origin of the protozoan parasites histone-like proteins (HU)
Aylan Farid Arenas1, Andrés J Gutierrez Escobar, Jorge Enrique Gómez-Marin
1Grupo de Parasitología Molecular (GEPAMOL), Centro de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad del Quindío, Armenia, Colombia.
Abstract:
The histone-like proteins (HU) belong to a family of DNA architectural proteins that stabilize nucleoprotein complexes. We found a putative HU protein (TgGlmHMM_3045) in Toxoplasma gondii genome that was homologous to the bacterial HU protein. This putative sequence was located in the scaffold TGG_995361 of the chromosome 10. The sequence included the prokaryotic bacterial histone-like domain, KFGSLGlRRRGERVARNPRT (ID number PS00045). HU protein sequences were also found in Plasmodium falciparum, Neospora caninum, Theileria parva and Theileria annulata. We found that the homology of the putative HU protein in Apicomplexa was greater with bacterial histone-like proteins than with eukaryotic histone proteins. The phylogenetic tree indicated that the putative HU protein genes were acquired in Apicomplexa by means of a secondary endosymbiotic event from red algae and later they were transferred from the apicoplast organelle to the nuclear genome.
Related Concept Videos
Diversity of Protists I
Histone Variants at the Centromere
The Nucleosome Core Particle
Nucleosomes, paradoxically, perform two opposite functions simultaneously. On the one hand, their primary aim is to protect the delicate DNA strands from physical damage and help achieve a higher compaction ratio. On the other hand, they must allow polymerase enzymes to access histone-bound DNA during...
The Nucleosome Core Particle
The paradox
Nucleosomes, paradoxically, perform two opposite functions simultaneously. On the one hand, their main responsibility is to protect the delicate DNA strands from physical damage and help achieve a higher compaction ratio. While on the other hand, they must allow polymerase enzymes to access DNA...
Diversity of Protists II
Conservation of Protein Domains Over Different Proteins
A limited set of protein domains often duplicate and recombine during evolution. These domains can be organized in different combinations to form...

