Department of Biology, Laney College, Oakland, CA, USA.
School of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
BMC Res Notes. 2022 May 21;15(1):188. doi: 10.1186/s13104-022-06073-5.
Toxoplasma gondii is a ubiquitous parasite of medical and veterinary importance; however, there exists no cure for chronic toxoplasmosis. Metabolic enzymes required for the production and maintenance of tissue cysts represent promising targets for novel therapies. Here, we use reverse genetics to investigate the role of Toxoplasma phosphoglucomutase 1, PGM1, in Toxoplasma growth and cystogenesis.
We found that disruption of pgm1 did not significantly affect Toxoplasma intracellular growth and the lytic cycle. pgm1-defective parasites could differentiate into bradyzoites and produced cysts containing amylopectin in vitro. However, cysts produced in the absence of pgm1 were significantly smaller than wildtype. Together, our findings suggest that PGM1 is dispensable for in vitro growth but contributes to optimal Toxoplasma cyst development in vitro, thereby necessitating further investigation into the function of this enzyme in Toxoplasma persistence in its host.
刚地弓形虫是一种普遍存在的寄生虫，具有医学和兽医重要性；然而，目前尚无慢性弓形虫病的治愈方法。用于产生和维持组织包囊的代谢酶代表了新疗法的有希望的靶标。在这里，我们使用反向遗传学来研究弓形虫磷酸葡萄糖变位酶 1（PGM1）在弓形虫生长和囊形成中的作用。
我们发现 pgm1 的破坏并没有显著影响弓形虫的细胞内生长和裂解周期。pgm1 缺陷型寄生虫可以分化为缓殖子，并在体外产生含有支链淀粉的包囊。然而，在没有 pgm1 的情况下产生的包囊明显小于野生型。总之，我们的研究结果表明，PGM1 对于体外生长不是必需的，但有助于体外弓形虫囊的最佳发育，因此需要进一步研究该酶在弓形虫在宿主中的持续存在中的功能。
