title: A small Tim homohexamer in the relict mitochondrion of Cryptosporidium.
abstract: The apicomplexan parasite Cryptosporidium parvum possesses a mitosome, a relict mitochondrion with a greatly reduced metabolic capability. This mitosome houses a mitochondrial-type protein import apparatus, but elements of the protein import pathway have been reduced, and even lost, through evolution. The small Tim protein family is a case in point. The genomes of C. parvum and related species of Cryptosporidium each encode just one small Tim protein, CpTimS. This observation challenged the tenet that small Tim proteins are always found in pairs as α3β3 hexamers. We show that the atypical CpTimS exists as a relatively unstable homohexamer, shedding light both on the early evolution of the small Tim protein family and on small Tim hexamer formation in contemporary eukaryotes.
authors: Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Monash University, Clayton, Australia.
authors: Felicity
authors: F
authors: Alcock
authors: Chaille T
authors: CT
authors: Webb
authors: Pavel
authors: P
authors: Dolezal
authors: Victoria
authors: V
authors: Hewitt
authors: Miguel
authors: M
authors: Shingu-Vasquez
authors: Vladimir A
authors: VA
authors: Likić
authors: Ana
authors: A
authors: Traven
authors: Trevor
authors: T
authors: Lithgow
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D003458:Cryptosporidium / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D018832:Molecular Chaperones / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011487:Protein Conformation; D055503:Protein Multimerization; D021122:Protein Subunits; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D018832:Molecular Chaperones; D021122:Protein Subunits