title: Catalase in Leishmaniinae: With me or against me?
abstract: The catalase gene is a virtually ubiquitous component of the eukaryotic genomes. It is also present in the monoxenous (i.e. parasitizing solely insects) trypanosomatids of the subfamily Leishmaniinae, which have acquired the enzyme by horizontal gene transfer from a bacterium. However, as shown here, the catalase gene was secondarily lost from the genomes of all Leishmania sequenced so far. Due to the potentially key regulatory role of hydrogen peroxide in the inter-stagial transformation of Leishmania spp., this loss seems to be a necessary prerequisite for the emergence of a complex life cycle of these important human pathogens. Hence, in this group of protists, the advantages of keeping catalase were uniquely outweighed by its disadvantages.
authors.affiliation: Life Science Research Centre, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, 710 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Natalya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kraeva
authors.affiliation: Biology Centre, Institute of Parasitology, Czech Academy of Sciences, 370 05 České Budějovice (Budweis), Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Horáková
authors.affiliation: Life Science Research Centre, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, 710 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic; Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg 199034, Russia.
authors.forename: Alexei Y
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Kostygov
authors.affiliation: Biology Centre, Institute of Parasitology, Czech Academy of Sciences, 370 05 České Budějovice (Budweis), Czech Republic; Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1GA, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Luděk
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kořený
authors.affiliation: Life Science Research Centre, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, 710 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Anzhelika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Butenko
authors.affiliation: Life Science Research Centre, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, 710 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic; Biology Centre, Institute of Parasitology, Czech Academy of Sciences, 370 05 České Budějovice (Budweis), Czech Republic; Institute of Environmental Technologies, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, 710 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic. Electronic address: vyacheslav.yurchenko@osu.cz.
authors.forename: Vyacheslav
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Yurchenko
authors.affiliation: Biology Centre, Institute of Parasitology, Czech Academy of Sciences, 370 05 České Budějovice (Budweis), Czech Republic; Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, 370 05 České Budějovice (Budweis), Czech Republic; Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 1Z8, Canada. Electronic address: jula@paru.cas.cz.
authors.forename: Julius
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lukeš
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics; D002374:Catalase / Q000235:genetics*; D005658:Fungi / Q000235:genetics; D017353:Gene Deletion; D015870:Gene Expression; D016678:Genome; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D006801:Humans; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D007891:Leishmania / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D008018:Life Cycle Stages / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D011576:Psychodidae / Q000469:parasitology; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014351:Trypanosomatina / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide; D002374:Catalase
keywords: Catalase; Gene loss; Leishmania; Trypanosomatids