The Cytoskeleton of Parabasalian Parasites Comprises Proteins that Share Properties Common to Intermediate Filament Proteins

Harald Preisner, Eli Levy Karin, Gereon Poschmann, Kai Stühler, Tal Pupko, Sven B. Gould
2016 Protist  
Certain protist lineages bear cytoskeletal structures that are germane to them and define their individual group. Trichomonadida are excavate parasites united by a unique cytoskeletal framework, which includes tubulin-based structures such as the pelta and axostyle, but also other filaments such as the striated costa whose protein composition remains unknown. We determined the proteome of the detergent-resistant cytoskeleton of Tetratrichomonas gallinarum. 203 proteins with homology to
more » ... as vaginalis were identified, which contain significantly more long coiled-coil regions than control protein sets. Five candidates were shown to associate with previously described cytoskeletal structures including the costa and the expression of a single T. vaginalis protein in T. gallinarum induced the formation of accumulated, striated filaments. Our data suggests that filament-forming proteins of protists other than actin and tubulin share common structural properties with metazoan intermediate filament proteins, while not being homologous. These filament-forming proteins might have evolved many times independently in eukaryotes, or simultaneously in a common ancestor but with different evolutionary trajectories downstream in different phyla. The broad variety of filament-forming proteins uncovered, and with no homologs outside of the Trichomonadida, once more highlights the diverse nature of eukaryotic proteins with the ability to form unique cytoskeletal filaments. (2009) GiardiaDB and TrichDB: integrated genomic resources for the eukaryotic protist pathogens Giardia lamblia and Trichomonas vaginalis. Nucleic Acids Res 37:D526-D530 Ausmees N, Kuhn JR, Jacobs-Wagner C (2003) The bacterial cytoskeleton: an intermediate filament-like function in cell shape. Cell 115:705-713 Baldauf SL (2008) An overview of the phylogeny and diversity of eukaryotes. J Syst Evol 46:263-273 Bagchi S, Tomenius H, Belova LM, Ausmees N (2008) Intermediate filament-like proteins in bacteria and a cytoskeletal function in Streptomyces. Mol Microbiol 70:1037-1050 Benchimol M (2004) Trichomonads under microscopy. Microsc
doi:10.1016/j.protis.2016.09.001 pmid:27744090 fatcat:eg3hiuc4cbakbokzsrvqbjegwq