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A Giardia duodenalis gene* encoding a protein with multiple repeats of a toxin homologue

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

N. Chen
Affiliation:
Queensland Institute of Medical Research, 300 Herston Road, Brisbane, Queensland 4029, Australia
J. A. Upcrofta
Affiliation:
Queensland Institute of Medical Research, 300 Herston Road, Brisbane, Queensland 4029, Australia
P. Upcroft
Affiliation:
Queensland Institute of Medical Research, 300 Herston Road, Brisbane, Queensland 4029, Australia

Summary

A gene, CRP136, from the intestinal protozoan parasite Giardia duodenalis, expressed at a high level in a metronidazole-resistant line, encodes a 136 kDa protein with 23 copies of a 40 amino acid repeat. The protein is cysteine-rich and has the typical membrane-spanning region and CXXC amino acid motifs of a family of Giardia cysteine-rich surface proteins (CRSPs). The repeat unit in CRP136, shares 57% homology with the gene encoding the precursor of the sarafotoxins, a group of snake toxins from the burrowing adder known to cause symptoms similar to those of humans acutely infected with Giardia. The sarafotoxins are low molecular weight sulphydryl cross-linked peptides which are proteolytically cleaved from a precursor polyprotein. CRP136 has homology over the entire length of the sarafotoxin precursor, and the repeats are of the same length. Thus CRP136 represents the first evidence for a potential Giardia toxin. The genomic copy number of CRP136 appears to be the same in both the parent and drug-resistant lines and expression of this gene, and at least one other, is associated with a conserved partial duplication, but not amplification, of one chromosome.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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