Abstract
The anaerobic protozoan parasite Entamoeba histolytica has mitosomes that are mitochondria lacking some canonical functions and organelle DNA. Mitosomes play an important role in the life cycle of the parasite. The distribution of proteins in mitosomes is not uniform, and how mitosomes are maintained and retained is unknown. To answer these questions, we developed a transplant method for mitosomes with hemagglutinin-tagged protein into recipient cells containing mitosomes with Myc-tagged protein. Immunofluorescence staining showed that the two protein tags colocalized in single mitosomes in some recipient cells. These results suggest that our transplant method can be used in anaerobic protozoa and that donor mitosomes may obtain recipient proteins through fusion with other mitosomes or through de novo synthesis of proteins in recipient cells.
Highlights
The anaerobic protozoan parasite Entamoeba histolytica has mitosomes that are mitochondria lacking some canonical functions and organelle DNA
To discriminate mitosomes derived from donor and recipient, we prepared an E. histolytica strain expressing ATP sulfurylase (AS; XP_653570, an authentic mitosomal protein)[3] with a Myc-epitope tag at the C-terminus
The results indicated that AS-Myc could be used to identify mitosomes in the recipient
Summary
E. histolytica has a simple life cycle, existing as either an infectious cyst or an amoeboid trophozoite that ingests bacteria and food particles and reproduces by binary fission in the host intestine This parasite is adaptive to anaerobic conditions and has mitosomes that have largely lost canonical mitochondrial functions such as the respiratory chain and TCA cycle[2,3]. The results of transplants suggest possible maintenance systems in which exogenous mitosomes associate with endogenous mitosomes or receive de novo synthesized proteins in the recipient. This is the first report describing transplant of DNA-lacking mitochondria into an anaerobic microorganism
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