Genomic survey maps differences in the molecular complement of vesicle formation machinery between Giardia intestinalis assemblages.

Giardia intestinalis is a globally important microbial pathogen with considerable public health, agricultural, and economic burden. Genome sequencing and comparative analyses have elucidated G. intestinalis to be a taxonomically diverse species consisting of at least eight different sub-types (assemblages A-H) that can infect a great variety of animal hosts, including humans.

Genomics of Preaxostyla Flagellates Illuminates the Path Towards the Loss of Mitochondria.

The notion that mitochondria cannot be lost was shattered with the report of an oxymonad Monocercomonoides exilis, the first eukaryote arguably without any mitochondrion. Yet, questions remain about whether this extends beyond the single species and how this transition took place. The Oxymonadida is a group of gut endobionts taxonomically housed in the Preaxostyla which also contains free-living flagellates of the genera Trimastix and Paratrimastix.

Combined nanometric and phylogenetic analysis of unique endocytic compartments in Giardia lamblia sheds light on the evolution of endocytosis in Metamonada.

Background: Giardia lamblia, a parasitic protist of the Metamonada supergroup, has evolved one of the most diverged endocytic compartment systems investigated so far. Peripheral endocytic compartments, currently known as peripheral vesicles or vacuoles (PVs), perform bulk uptake of fluid phase material which is then digested and sorted either to the cell cytosol or back to the extracellular space.

Results: Here, we present a quantitative morphological characterization of these organelles using volumetric electron microscopy and super-resolution microscopy (SRM).

Unexpected organellar locations of ESCRT machinery in Giardia intestinalis and complex evolutionary dynamics spanning the transition to parasitism in the lineage Fornicata.

Background: Comparing a parasitic lineage to its free-living relatives is a powerful way to understand how that evolutionary transition to parasitism occurred. Giardia intestinalis (Fornicata) is a leading cause of gastrointestinal disease world-wide and is famous for its unusual complement of cellular compartments, such as having peripheral vacuoles instead of typical endosomal compartments. Endocytosis plays an important role in Giardia's pathogenesis.

The reduced ARF regulatory system in Giardia intestinalis pre-dates the transition to parasitism in the lineage Fornicata.

Giardia intestinalis is an enteric pathogen with an extremely modified membrane trafficking system, lacking canonical compartments such as the Golgi, endosomes, and intermediate vesicle carriers. By comparison the fornicate relatives of Giardia possess greater endomembrane system complexity. In eukaryotes, the ADP ribosylation factor (ARF) GTPase regulatory system proteins, which consist of the small GTPase ARF1, and its guanine exchange nucleotide factors (GEFs) and GTPase activating proteins (GAPs), coordinate temporal and directional trafficking of cargo vesicles by recognizing and interacting with heterotetrameric coat complexes at pre-Golgi and post-Golgi interfaces.

Evolution: Parallel Paths to Parasitism in the Apicomplexa.

A new study presents the first comprehensive genome and transcriptome data for an enigmatic group of apicomplexan parasites, the gregarines. The findings provide insights into the early evolution of parasitism in the apicomplexans and illustrate the important contributions of convergent and parallel evolution in the rise of eukaryotic parasites.

Ancient complement and lineage-specific evolution of the Sec7 ARF GEF proteins in eukaryotes.

Guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) are the initiators of signaling by every regulatory GTPase, which in turn act to regulate a wide array of essential cellular processes. To date, each family of GTPases is activated by distinct families of GEFs. Bidirectional membrane trafficking is regulated by ADP-ribosylation factor (ARF) GTPases and the development throughout eukaryotic evolution of increasingly complex systems of such traffic required the acquisition of a functionally diverse cohort of ARF GEFs to control it.