Roos D S, Crawford M J, Donald R G, Kissinger J C, Klimczak L J, Striepen B
Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6018, USA.
Curr Opin Microbiol. 1999 Aug;2(4):426-32. doi: 10.1016/S1369-5274(99)80075-7.
The discovery of a plastid in Plasmodium, Toxoplasma and related protozoan parasites provides a satisfying resolution to several long-standing mysteries: the mechanism of action for various surprisingly effective antibiotics; the subcellular location of an enigmatic 35 kb episomal DNA; and the nature of an unusual intracellular structure containing multiple membranes. The apicomplexan plastid highlights the importance of lateral genetic transfer in evolution and provides an accessible system for the investigation of protein targeting to secondary endosymbiotic organelles. Combining molecular genetic identification of targeting signals with whole genome analysis promises to yield a complete picture of organellar metabolic pathways and new targets for drug design.
在疟原虫、弓形虫及相关原生动物寄生虫中发现质体，为几个长期存在的谜团提供了令人满意的解答：各种出奇有效的抗生素的作用机制；神秘的35 kb附加型DNA的亚细胞定位；以及含有多层膜的异常细胞内结构的性质。顶复门生物的质体凸显了横向基因转移在进化中的重要性，并为研究蛋白质靶向次生内共生细胞器提供了一个易于研究的系统。将靶向信号的分子遗传学鉴定与全基因组分析相结合，有望全面了解细胞器代谢途径，并为药物设计提供新的靶点。
