Identification of weak points prone for mutation in ferredoxin of Trichomonas vaginalis

Trichomonas vaginalis, the causative agent for human trichomoniasis, is a problematic sexually transmitted disease mainly in women. At present, metronidazole-resistant trichomoniasis is an infrequent but challenging problem with no universally successful treatment. Genetic mutation is believed to be an important factor leading to increasing drug resistance. Understanding the mutation status will help to design accurate strategies of therapy against mutant strains of T. vaginalis. The author performed a bioinformatic analysis to determine positions that tend to comply peptide motifs in the amino acid sequence of ferredoxin of T. vaginalis. Based on this study, the weak linkages in the studied protein can be identified and can be useful information for prediction of possible new mutations that can lead to drug resistance. In addition, the results from this study can be good information for further research on the diagnosis for mutants and new effective drug development.