Comparative analysis of apicomplexa and genomic diversity in eukaryotes.
The apicomplexans Plasmodium and Cryptosporidium have developed distinctive adaptations via lineage-specific gene loss and gene innovation in the process of diverging from a common parasitic ancestor. The two lineages have acquired distinct but overlapping sets of surface protein adhesion domains typical of animal proteins, but in no case do they share multidomain architectures identical to animals. Cryptosporidium, but not Plasmodium, possesses an animal-type O-linked glycosylation pathway, along with >30 predicted surface proteins having mucin-like segments. The two parasites have notable qualitative differences in conserved protein architectures associated with chromatin dynamics and transcription. Cryptosporidium shows considerable reduction in the number of introns and a concomitant loss of spliceosomal machinery components. We also describe additional molecular characteristics distinguishing Apicomplexa from other eukaryotes for which complete genome sequences are available.
Templeton
Thomas J
TJ
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Medical College and the Program in Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis, Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell University, New York, New York 10021, USA. tjt2001@med.cornell.edu
Iyer
Lakshminarayan M
LM
Anantharaman
Vivek
V
Enomoto
Shinichiro
S
Abrahante
Juan E
JE
Subramanian
G M
GM
Hoffman
Stephen L
SL
Abrahamsen
Mitchell S
MS
Aravind
L
L
D000818:Animals; D016782:Apicomplexa / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002843:Chromatin; D003458:Cryptosporidium / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D017125:Genes, Protozoan; D014644:Genetic Variation; D016678:Genome; D006031:Glycosylation; D007438:Introns; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010802:Phylogeny; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000235:genetics
D002843:Chromatin; D008565:Membrane Proteins