A5075517529- Trypanosoma species research and implications
- Research on Leishmaniasis Studies
- Protist diversity and phylogeny
- Photosynthetic Processes and Mechanisms
- Lysosomal Storage Disorders Research
- Biochemical and Molecular Research
- Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies
- Cardiomyopathy and Myosin Studies
- Signaling Pathways in Disease
- Microtubule and mitosis dynamics
- Calcium signaling and nucleotide metabolism
- Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
- Protein Kinase Regulation and GTPase Signaling
- Studies on Chitinases and Chitosanases
- Heat shock proteins research
- RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms
- Mitochondrial Function and Pathology
- ATP Synthase and ATPases Research
- Marine Biology and Ecology Research
- Membrane-based Ion Separation Techniques
- Nonlinear Dynamics and Pattern Formation
- Physiological and biochemical adaptations
- Evolution and Genetic Dynamics
- Oral and gingival health research
- Metalloenzymes and iron-sulfur proteins
Institute of Parasitology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences
2025
Czech Academy of Sciences, Biology Centre
2020-2024
Czech Academy of Sciences
2019-2024
Institute of Parasitology
2020-2024
Lancaster University
2015-2022
University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice
2015-2017
Sewanee: The University of the South
2013-2015
University of Glasgow
2010-2013
Wellcome Centre for Molecular Parasitology
2010-2012
Wellcome Trust
2009-2012
Trypanosome gene expression is regulated almost exclusively at the post-transcriptional level, with mRNA degradation playing a decisive role. When trypanosomes are transferred from blood of mammal to midgut Tsetse fly, they transform procyclic forms: reprogrammed, changing cell surface and switching mode energy metabolism. Within blood, can pre-adapt for transmission, becoming growth-arrested stumpy forms. We describe here transitions in that occur during differentiation in-vitro cultured...
Abstract Background Diplonemid flagellates are among the most abundant and species-rich of known marine microeukaryotes, colonizing all habitats, depths, geographic regions world ocean. However, little is about their genomes, biology, ecological role. Results We present first nuclear genome sequence from a diplonemid, type species Diplonema papillatum . The ~ 280-Mb assembly contains 32,000 protein-coding genes, likely co-transcribed in groups up to 100. Gene clusters separated by long...
ABSTRACT Cristae enclose respiratory chain protein complexes, making them the bioenergetic subcompartments of mitochondria. The MICOS complex is among inducers sharp membrane curvature needed for crista formation. Resembling organized around a core protein, mitofilin-domain bearing Mic60, that was inherited from alphaproteobacterial progenitor Extant alphaproteobacteria express Mic60 to form their own subcompartments, demonstrating permeance Mic60’s and function during long span prokaryotic...
Trypanosoma brucei cell shape is influenced by flagellum to body attachment via a specialised structure - the zone (FAZ). T. exhibits numerous morphological forms during its life cycle and at each stage FAZ length varies. We have analysed FLAM3, large protein that localises region within old new flagellum. Ablation of FLAM3 expression causes reduction in length; however, this has remarkably different consequences tsetse procyclic form versus mammalian bloodstream form. In cells RNAi results...
The cell division cycle of the unicellular eukaryote Trypanosome brucei is tightly regulated despite paucity transcriptional control that results from arrangement genes in polycistronic units and lack dynamically transcription factors. To identify contribution dynamic phosphorylation to T. we have combined synchronisation by centrifugal elutriation with quantitative phosphoproteomic analysis. Cell changes site abundance (917 sites, average 5-fold change) were more widespread a larger...
Microtubule severing enzymes regulate microtubule dynamics in a wide range of organisms and are implicated important cell cycle processes such as mitotic spindle assembly disassembly, chromosome movement cytokinesis. Here we explore the function several enzyme homologues, katanins (KAT80, KAT60a, KAT60b KAT60c), spastin (SPA) fidgetin (FID) bloodstream stage African trypanosome parasite, Trypanosoma brucei. The cytoskeleton is based remains assembled throughout cycle, necessitating its...
The β-propeller protein Sec13 plays roles in at least three distinct processes by virtue of being a component the COPII endoplasmic reticulum export vesicle coat, nuclear pore complex (NPC) and Seh1-associated (SEA)/GATOR nutrient-sensing complex. This suggests that regulatory mechanisms coordinating these cellular activities may operate via Sec13. NPC, SEA/GATOR are all ancient features eukaryotic cells, vast majority eukaryotes, single gene is present. Here we report Euglenozoa, lineage...
In the African trypanosome Trypanosoma brucei nearly all control of gene expression is posttranscriptional; sequences in 3'-untranslated regions mRNAs determine steady-state mRNA levels by regulation RNA turnover. Here we investigate roles two related proteins, TbUBP1 and TbUBP2, containing a single recognition motif, expression. TbUBP2 are cytoplasm nucleus, comprise ca. 0.1% total protein, not associated with polysomes or degradation enzymes. Overexpression upregulated several potentially...
Nuclear DBF-2-related (NDR) kinases are essential regulators of cell cycle progression, growth, and development in many organisms activated by the binding an Mps One Binder (MOB) protein partner, autophosphorylation, phosphorylation upstream STE20 family kinase. In protozoan parasite, Trypanosoma brucei, causative agent human African trypanosomiasis, NDR kinase, PK50, is expressed proliferative life stages was shown to complement a yeast kinase mutant line. However, function PK50 second...
We report an optimised centrifugal counter-flow elutriation protocol for the rapid and direct isolation of G1 cell cycle synchronised populations both procyclic bloodstream form stages Trypanosoma brucei that yields viable proliferative cells. The high quality synchronisation achieved can be judged by uniform DNA content, narrow size distribution, synchronous division, maintenance synchronicity into subsequent cycles. show early-eluting fractions represent different subpopulations progress...
The mitochondrial ribosome (mitoribosome) has diverged drastically from its evolutionary progenitor, the bacterial ribosome. Structural and compositional diversity is particularly striking in phylum Euglenozoa, with an extraordinary protein gain mitoribosome of kinetoplastid protists. Here we report even more complex diplonemids, sister-group kinetoplastids. Affinity pulldown mitoribosomal complexes Diplonema papillatum, diplonemid type species, demonstrates that they have a mass > 5 MDa,...
ABSTRACT Transmission of genetic material from one generation to the next is a fundamental feature all living cells. In eukaryotes, macromolecular complex called kinetochore plays crucial roles during chromosome segregation by linking chromosomes spindle microtubules. Little known about this process in evolutionarily diverse protists. Within supergroup Discoba, Euglenozoa forms speciose group unicellular flagellates—kinetoplastids, euglenids, and diplonemids. Kinetoplastids have an...
The protozoan parasite, Trypanosoma brucei, is spread by the tsetse fly and causes trypanosomiasis in humans animals. Both life cycle cell of parasite are complex. Trypanosomes have eleven cdc2-related kinases (CRKs) ten cyclins, an unusually large number for a single celled organism. To date, relatively little known about function many CRKs only CRK3 has previously been shown to be cyclin-dependent vivo. Here we report identification uncharacterised CRK:cyclin complex between CRK12 putative...
Trypanosoma cruzi is the etiological agent for Chagas disease, a neglected parasitic disease in Latin America. Gene transcription control governs eukaryotic cell replication but absent trypanosomatids; thus, it must be replaced by posttranscriptional regulatory events. We investigated entrance into T. replicative cycle using ribosome profiling and proteomics on G1/S epimastigote cultures synchronized with hydroxyurea. identified 1,784 translationally regulated genes (change > 2,...
Dynamins and dynamin-like proteins (DLPs) belong to a family of large GTPases involved in membrane remodelling events. These include both fusion fission processes with different dynamin often having specialised function within the same organism. Trypanosoma brucei is thought have only one multifunctional DLP (TbDLP). While this was initially reported mitochondrial division only, an additional role endocytosis cytokinesis later also proposed. Since there are two copies TbDLP present...
Summary Diplonemids are a group of highly diverse and abundant marine microeukaryotes that belong to the phylum Euglenozoa form sister clade well‐studied, mostly parasitic kinetoplastids. Very little is known about biology diplonemids, as few species have been formally described just one, Diplonema papillatum , has studied decent extent at molecular level. Following up on our previous results showing stable but random integration delivered extraneous DNA, we demonstrate here homologous...
The bloodstream form of the parasite Trypanosoma brucei obtains iron from its mammalian host by receptor-mediated endocytosis transferrin through own unique receptor (TbTfR). Expression TbTfR rapidly increases upon starvation post-transcriptional regulation a currently undefined mechanism that is distinct response system. We have created reporter cell lines fusing 3’UTR or control Aldolase to genes encoding GFP firefly Luciferase, and inserted fusions into line at tagged ribosomal RNA locus....
Control of gene expression in trypanosomes relies almost exclusively on post-transcriptional mechanisms. Trypanosomes have the normal enzymes for mRNA decay: both exosome and a 5'-3'-exoribonuclease are important degradation very unstable transcripts, whereas CAF1/NOT complex plays major role all mRNAs tested. Targeted RNA interference screening was used to identify RNA-binding proteins that regulate degradation, it revealed roles with recognition motifs or pumilio domains.