A vestigial, nonphotosynthetic plastid has been identified recently in protozoan parasites of the phylum Apicomplexa. The apicomplexan plastid, or ''apicoplast,'' is indispensable, but the complete sequence of both the Plasmodium falciparum and Toxoplasma gondii apicoplast genomes has offered no clue as to what essential metabolic function(s) this organelle might perform in parasites. To investigate possible functions of the apicoplast, we sought to identify nuclear-encoded genes whose products are targeted to the apicoplast in Plasmodium and Toxoplasma. We describe here nuclear genes encoding ribosomal proteins S9 and L28 and the fatty acid biosynthetic enzymes acyl carrier protein (ACP), ␤-ketoacyl-ACP synthase III (FabH), and ␤-hydroxyacyl-ACP dehydratase (FabZ). These genes show high similarity to plastid homologues, and immunolocalization of S9 and ACP verifies that the proteins accumulate in the plastid. All the putatively apicoplast-targeted proteins bear N-terminal presequences consistent with plastid targeting, and the ACP presequence is shown to be sufficient to target a recombinant green f luorescent protein reporter to the apicoplast in transgenic T. gondii. Localization of ACP, and very probably FabH and FabZ, in the apicoplast implicates fatty acid biosynthesis as a likely function of the apicoplast. Moreover, inhibition of P. falciparum growth by thiolactomycin, an inhibitor of FabH, indicates a vital role for apicoplast fatty acid biosynthesis. Because the fatty acid biosynthesis genes identified here are of a plastid͞bacterial type, and distinct from those of the equivalent pathway in animals, fatty acid biosynthesis is potentially an excellent target for therapeutics directed against malaria, toxoplasmosis, and other apicomplexan-mediated diseases.

A nonhomologous integration vector was used to identify the Toxoplasma gondii hypoxanthine-xanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (HXGPRT) gene by insertional mutagenesis. Parasite mutants resistant to 6-thioxanthine arose at a frequency of approximately3 x 10(-7). Genomic DNA flanking the insertion sites was retrieved by marker rescue and used to identify molecular clones exhibiting unambiguous homology to H(X)GPRT genes from other species. Sequence analysis of vector/genome junction sites reveals that integration of the linearized vector occurred with minimal rearrangement of either vector or target sequences, although the addition of filler DNA and small duplications or deletions of genomic sequences at the transgene termini was observed. Two differentially spliced classes of cDNA clones were identified, both of which complement hpt and gpt mutations in Escherichia coli. Kinetic analysis of purified recombinant enzyme revealed no significant differences between the two isoforms. Internally deleted clones spanning the genomic locus were used to create "knock-out" parasites, which lack all detectable HXGPRT activity. Complete activity could be restored to these knock-out mutants by transient transformation with either genomic DNA or cDNA-derived minigenes encoding both enzyme isoforms. Stable HXGPRT+ transformants were isolated under selection with mycophenolic acid, demonstrating the feasibility of HXGPRT as both a positive and negative selectable marker for stable transformation of T. gondii.

To facilitate genetic analysis of the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, sequences derived from the parasite's fused dihydrofolate reductase-thymidylate synthase (DHFR-TS) gene have been used to produce vectors suitable for stable molecular transformation. Mutations introduced into the DHFR coding region by analogy with pyrimethamineresistant malaria confer drug resistance to Toxoplasma, providing useful information on the structure of fused DHFR-TS enzymes and a powerful selectable marker for molecular genetic studies. Depending on the particular drug-resistance aflele employed and the conditions ofselection, stable resistance can be generated either by single copy nonhomologous insertion into chromosomal DNA or by massively amplified transgenes. Frequencies of integration are independent of selection, and transgenes are stable without continued selection. Cointegration of a reporter gene adjacent to the selectable marker (under the control of an independent promoter) shows no loss of the cointegrated sequences over many parasite generations. By brinnging the fuil power of molecular genetic analysis to bear on Toxoplasma, these studies should greatly facilitate the development of a model genetic system for Apicomplexan parasites.

A deletion analysis of the Arabidopsis thaliana rbcS‐1A promoter defined a 196 bp region (‐320 to ‐125) sufficient to confer light‐regulated expression on a heterologous Arabidopsis alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) reporter gene in transgenic Nicotiana tabacum (tobacco) leaves. This region, which contains DNA sequences I, G and GT boxes, with homology to other ribulose‐1,5‐bisphosphate carboxylase small subunit (RBCS) gene promoter sequences, directed expression independent of orientation and relative position in the Adh promoter. Site‐specific mutagenesis of these conserved sequences and subsequent expression analysis in transgenic tobacco showed that both G box and I box mutations in the context of the full (‐1700 to +21) rbcS‐1A promoter substantially reduced the expression of Adh and beta‐glucuronidase (GUS) reporter genes. The G box has previously been shown to specifically bind in vitro a factor isolated from nuclear extracts of tomato and Arabidopsis. This factor (GBF) is distinct from the factor GT‐1 which binds to adjacent GT boxes in the pea rbcS‐3A promoter. Multiple mutations in putative Arabidopsis rbcS‐1A promoter GT boxes had no pronounced affect on expression, possibly due to a redundancy of these sites. Experiments in which rbcS‐1A promoter fragments were fused to truncated 35S CaMV (cauliflower mosaic virus) promoter‐‐GUS reporter constructs showed that cis‐acting CaMV promoter elements could partially restore expression to G‐box‐mutated rbcS‐1A sequences.

No abstract

No abstract

The trisubstituted pyrrole 4-[2-(4-fluorophenyl)-5-(1-methylpiperidine-4-yl)-1H-pyrrol-3-yl]pyridine (compound 1) has in vivo activity against the apicomplexan parasites Toxoplasma gondii and Eimeria tenella in animal models. The presumptive molecular target of this compound in E. tenella is cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG). Native PKG purified from T. gondii has kinetic and pharmacologic properties similar to those of the E. tenella homologue, and both have been functionally expressed as recombinant proteins in T. gondii. Computer modeling of parasite PKG was used to predict catalytic site amino acid residues that interact with compound 1. The recombinant laboratory-generated mutants T. gondii PKG T761Q or T761M and the analogous E. tenella T770 alleles have reduced binding affinity for, and are not inhibited by, compound 1. By all other criteria, PKG with this class of catalytic site substitution is indistinguishable from wild-type enzyme. A genetic disruption of T. gondii PKG can only be achieved if a complementing copy of PKG is provided in trans, arguing that PKG is an essential protein. Strains of T. gondii, disrupted at the genomic PKG locus and dependent upon the T. gondii T761-substituted PKGs, are as virulent as wild type in mice. However, unlike mice infected with wild-type T. gondii that are cured by compound 1, mice infected with the laboratory-generated strains of T. gondii do not respond to treatment. We conclude that PKG represents the primary molecular target responsible for the antiparasitic efficacy of compound 1.

Nonhomologous integration vectors have been used to demonstrate the feasibility of insertional mutagenesis in haploid tachyzoites of the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Mutant clones resistant to 5-fluorouracil were identified at a frequency of _10-6 (-2 x 10-5 of the stable transformants). Four independent mutants were isolated, all of which were shown to lack uracil phosphoribosyltransferase (UPRT) activity and harbor transgenes integrated at closely linked loci, suggesting inactivation of the UPRTencoding gene. Genomic DNA flanking the insertion point (along with the integrated vector) was readily recovered by bacterial transformation with restriction-digested, selfligated total genomic DNA. Screening of genomic libraries with the recovered fragment identified sequences exhibiting high homology to known UPRT-encoding genes from other species, and cDNA clones were isolated that contain a single open reading frame predicted to encode the 244-amino acid enzyme. Homologous recombination vectors were exploited to create genetic knock-outs at the UPRT locus, which are deficient in enzyme activity but can be complemented by transient transformation with wild-type sequences-formally confirming identification of the functional UPRT gene. Mapping of transgene insertion points indicates that multiple independent mutants arose from integration at distinct sites within the UPRT gene, suggesting that nonhomologous integration is sufficiently random to permit tagging of the entire parasite genome in a single transformation.