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Excavata is a diverse group of protists that includes both chemoorganotrophic and phototrophic species, with some thriving in anaerobic environments. Among the key groups within Excavata are diplomonads and parabasalids, which are flagellated protists that lack mitochondria and chloroplasts. These microorganisms typically inhabit anoxic environments, such as the intestines of animals, where they exist either symbiotically or as parasites, relying on fermentation for energy production. Some...
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Protein families are groups of homologous proteins; that is, they have similarities in amino acid sequences and three-dimensional structures. Protein families usually occur because of gene duplication, where an additional copy of a gene is inserted into the genome of an organism.   Mutations that change the amino acids but still allow the protein to be properly synthesized, will lead to new protein family members.   If these new proteins contain similar amino acids in key...
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Measurement of Heme Synthesis Levels in Mammalian Cells
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Heme pathway evolution in kinetoplastid protists.

Ugo Cenci1,2, Daniel Moog1,2, Bruce A Curtis1,2

  • 1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada.

BMC Evolutionary Biology
|May 20, 2016
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

A near-complete heme biosynthesis pathway was discovered in Perkinsela, a deep-branching kinetoplastid lineage. This finding, involving lateral gene transfer, challenges previous understandings of heme metabolism in Kinetoplastea.

Keywords:
EndosymbiosisEvolutionHemeKinetoplasteaLateral gene transferParamoeba pemaquidensisPerkinselaProkinetoplastina

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Area of Science:

  • Protistology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Biochemistry

Background:

  • Kinetoplastea are diverse protists, including successful parasites whose metabolisms coevolve with hosts.
  • Parasitic kinetoplastids evolved multiple times from free-living ancestors.
  • The heme biosynthesis pathway is typically incomplete or absent in Kinetoplastea, which acquire heme externally.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the heme biosynthetic pathway in Perkinsela spp., obligate endosymbionts of Paramoeba/Neoparamoeba.
  • To infer the evolutionary history of the heme pathway within Kinetoplastea using phylogenetic analysis.

Main Methods:

  • Genome analysis of Perkinsela spp. to identify heme biosynthesis genes.
  • Phylogenetic analysis to reconstruct the evolutionary relationships of heme pathway genes.

Main Results:

  • A near-complete heme biosynthetic pathway, comprising seven of eight genes, was identified in Perkinsela spp.
  • Perkinsela spp. represents a deep-branching lineage within Kinetoplastea.
  • Lateral gene transfer was identified as a significant factor in the evolution of heme biosynthesis in Perkinsela and other Kinetoplastea.

Conclusions:

  • The presence of a near-complete heme pathway in Perkinsela has implications for its endosymbiotic relationship with Paramoeba.
  • This discovery expands our understanding of metabolic diversity and evolution within the Kinetoplastea lineage.
  • Lateral gene transfer is a key mechanism shaping metabolic pathways in symbiotic protists.