Blastocrithidia nonstop is a protist with a highly unusual nuclear genetic code, in which all three standard stop codons are reassigned to encode amino acids, with UAA also serving as a sole termination codon. In this study, we demonstrate that this parasitic flagellate is amenable to genetic manipulation, enabling gene ablation and protein tagging. Using preassembled Cas9 ribonucleoprotein complexes, we successfully disrupted and tagged the non-essential gene encoding catalase. These advances establish this single-celled eukaryote as a model organism for investigating the malleability and evolution of the genetic code in eukaryotes.

• Klíčová slova
• CRISPR‐Cas9, codon reassignment, genetic code, model organism, trypanosomatids,
• MeSH
• genetický kód * genetika   MeSH
• katalasa genetika   MeSH
• protozoální proteiny genetika   MeSH
• terminační kodon genetika   MeSH
• Trypanosomatina * genetika   MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• katalasa MeSH
• protozoální proteiny MeSH
• terminační kodon MeSH

Attachment to a substrate to maintain position in a specific ecological niche is a common strategy across biology, especially for eukaryotic parasites. During development in the sand fly vector, the eukaryotic parasite Leishmania adheres to the stomodeal valve, as the specialised haptomonad form. Dissection of haptomonad adhesion is a critical step for understanding the complete life cycle of Leishmania. Nevertheless, haptomonad studies are limited, as this is a technically challenging life cycle form to investigate. Here, we have combined three-dimensional electron microscopy approaches, including serial block face scanning electron microscopy (SBFSEM) and serial tomography to dissect the organisation and architecture of haptomonads in the sand fly. We showed that the attachment plaque contains distinct structural elements. Using time-lapse light microscopy of in vitro haptomonad-like cells, we identified five stages of haptomonad-like cell differentiation, and showed that calcium is necessary for Leishmania adhesion to the surface in vitro. This study provides the structural and regulatory foundations of Leishmania adhesion, which are critical for a holistic understanding of the Leishmania life cycle.

• Klíčová slova
• Leishmania, cell adhesion, cell biology, host-parasite interaction, infectious disease, microbiology, sand fly, serial block face scanning electron microscopy, serial section electron microscopy tomography,
• MeSH
• elektronová mikroskopie MeSH
• Leishmania * MeSH
• Psychodidae * MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

Leishmaniasis is a parasitic vector-borne disease caused by the protistan flagellates of the genus Leishmania. Leishmania (Viannia) guyanensis is one of the most common causative agents of the American tegumentary leishmaniasis. It has previously been shown that L. guyanensis strains that carry the endosymbiotic Leishmania RNA virus 1 (LRV1) cause more severe form of the disease in a mouse model than those that do not. The presence of the virus was implicated into the parasite's replication and spreading. In this respect, studying the molecular mechanisms of cellular control of viral infection is of great medical importance. Here, we report ~30.5 Mb high-quality genome assembly of the LRV1-positive L. guyanensis M4147. This strain was turned into a model by establishing the CRISPR-Cas9 system and ablating the gene encoding phosphatidate phosphatase 2-like (PAP2L) protein. The orthologue of this gene is conspicuously absent from the genome of an unusual member of the family Trypanosomatidae, Vickermania ingenoplastis, a species with mostly bi-flagellated cells. Our analysis of the PAP2L-null L. guyanensis showed an increase in the number of cells strikingly resembling the bi-flagellated V. ingenoplastis, likely as a result of the disruption of the cell cycle, significant accumulation of phosphatidic acid, and increased virulence compared to the wild type cells.

• MeSH
• buněčný cyklus MeSH
• fosfatidátfosfatasa genetika   MeSH
• Leishmania guyanensis * MeSH
• Leishmaniavirus MeSH
• leishmanióza kožní * MeSH
• lipidy MeSH
• myši MeSH
• paraziti * MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• myši MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Názvy látek
• fosfatidátfosfatasa MeSH
• lipidy MeSH

Most trypanosomatid flagellates do not have catalase. In the evolution of this group, the gene encoding catalase has been independently acquired at least three times from three different bacterial groups. Here, we demonstrate that the catalase of Vickermania was obtained by horizontal gene transfer from Gammaproteobacteria, extending the list of known bacterial sources of this gene. Comparative biochemical analyses revealed that the enzymes of V. ingenoplastis, Leptomonas pyrrhocoris, and Blastocrithidia sp., representing the three independent catalase-bearing trypanosomatid lineages, have similar properties, except for the unique cyanide resistance in the catalase of the latter species.

• Klíčová slova
• Blastocrithidia sp., Leptomonas pyrrhocoris, Vickermania ingenoplastis, cyanide resistance,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

BACKGROUND: Telomeres are indispensable for genome stability maintenance. They are maintained by the telomere-associated protein complex, which include Ku proteins and a telomerase among others. Here, we investigated a role of Ku80 in Leishmania mexicana. Leishmania is a genus of parasitic protists of the family Trypanosomatidae causing a vector-born disease called leishmaniasis. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We used the previously established CRISPR/Cas9 system to mediate ablation of Ku80- and Ku70-encoding genes in L. mexicana. Complete knock-outs of both genes were confirmed by Southern blotting, whole-genome Illumina sequencing, and RT-qPCR. Resulting telomeric phenotypes were subsequently investigated using Southern blotting detection of terminal restriction fragments. The genome integrity in the Ku80- deficient cells was further investigated by whole-genome sequencing. Our work revealed that telomeres in the ΔKu80 L. mexicana are elongated compared to those of the wild type. This is a surprising finding considering that in another model trypanosomatid, Trypanosoma brucei, they are shortened upon ablation of the same gene. A telomere elongation phenotype has been documented in other species and associated with a presence of telomerase-independent alternative telomere lengthening pathway. Our results also showed that Ku80 appears to be not involved in genome stability maintenance in L. mexicana. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Ablation of the Ku proteins in L. mexicana triggers telomere elongation, but does not have an adverse impact on genome integrity.

• MeSH
• antigen Ku genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• genom protozoální MeSH
• Leishmania mexicana genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• leishmanióza kožní parazitologie   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• nestabilita genomu * MeSH
• protozoální proteiny genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• telomery genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• Trypanosoma brucei brucei genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• antigen Ku MeSH
• protozoální proteiny MeSH

Leishmania spp. are important pathogens causing a vector-borne disease with a broad range of clinical manifestations from self-healing ulcers to the life-threatening visceral forms. Presence of Leishmania RNA virus (LRV) confers survival advantage to these parasites by suppressing anti-leishmanial immunity in the vertebrate host. The two viral species, LRV1 and LRV2 infect species of the subgenera Viannia and Leishmania, respectively. In this work we investigated co-phylogenetic patterns of leishmaniae and their viruses on a small scale (LRV2 in L. major) and demonstrated their predominant coevolution, occasionally broken by intraspecific host switches. Our analysis of the two viral genes, encoding the capsid and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RDRP), revealed them to be under the pressure of purifying selection, which was considerably stronger for the former gene across the whole tree. The selective pressure also differs between the LRV clades and correlates with the frequency of interspecific host switches. In addition, using experimental (capsid) and predicted (RDRP) models we demonstrated that the evolutionary variability across the structure is strikingly different in these two viral proteins.

• Klíčová slova
• Leishmaniavirus, coevolution, phylogenomics,
• MeSH
• Leishmania virologie   MeSH
• leishmanióza virologie   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• RNA virová analýza   MeSH
• RNA-dependentní RNA-polymerasa genetika   MeSH
• RNA-viry genetika   MeSH
• virové plášťové proteiny genetika   MeSH
• virové proteiny genetika   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Názvy látek
• RNA virová MeSH
• RNA-dependentní RNA-polymerasa MeSH
• virové plášťové proteiny MeSH
• virové proteiny MeSH