Antigenicity and immunogenicity of phage library-selected peptide mimics of the major surface proteophosphoglycan antigens of Entamoeba histolytica.

Entamoeba histolytica is the protozoan parasite responsible for intestinal amoebiasis and amoebic liver abscess, which cause significant morbidity and mortality in many countries of the world. Proteophosphoglycans (PPGs, also known as lipophosphoglycans, LPGs, or lipopeptidophosphoglycans, LPPGs) represent dominant surface components of E. histolytica.

Analyses of RNA Polymerase II genes from free-living protists: phylogeny, long branch attraction, and the eukaryotic big bang.

The phylogenetic relationships among major eukaryotic protist lineages are largely uncertain. Two significant obstacles in reconstructing eukaryotic phylogeny are long-branch attraction (LBA) effects and poor taxon sampling of free-living protists. We have obtained and analyzed gene sequences encoding the largest subunit of RNA Polymerase II (RPB1) from Naegleria gruberi (a heterolobosean), Cercomonas ATCC 50319 (a cercozoan), and Ochromonas danica (a heterokont); we have also analyzed the RPB1 gene from the nucleomorph (nm) genome of Guillardia theta (a cryptomonad).