title: Acanthamoeba castellanii STAT protein.
abstract: STAT (signal transducers and activators of transcription) proteins are one of the important mediators of phosphotyrosine-regulated signaling in metazoan cells. We described the presence of STAT protein in a unicellular, free-living amoebae with a simple life cycle, Acanthamoeba castellanii. A. castellanii is the only, studied to date, Amoebozoan that does not belong to Mycetozoa but possesses STATs. A sequence of the A. castellanii STAT protein includes domains similar to those of the Dictyostelium STAT proteins: a coiled coil (characteristic for Dictyostelium STAT coiled coil), a STAT DNA-binding domain and a Src-homology domain. The search for protein sequences homologous to A. castellanii STAT revealed 17 additional sequences from lower eukaryotes. Interestingly, all of these sequences come from Amoebozoa organisms that belong to either Mycetozoa (slime molds) or Centramoebida. We showed that there are four separated clades within the slime mold STAT proteins. The A. castellanii STAT protein branches next to a group of STATc proteins from Mycetozoa. We also demonstrate that Amoebozoa form a distinct monophyletic lineage within the STAT protein world that is well separated from the other groups.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioenergetics, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kicinska
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, University of Zielona Gora, Zielona Gora, Poland.
authors.forename: Jacek
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Leluk
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioenergetics, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland.
authors.forename: Wieslawa
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jarmuszkiewicz
mesh_terms: D048248:Acanthamoeba castellanii / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D016384:Consensus Sequence; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D054730:Protein Interaction Domains and Motifs; D050791:STAT Transcription Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D050791:STAT Transcription Factors