Characterization of SNAREs determines the absence of a typical Golgi apparatus in the ancient eukaryote Giardia lamblia

ELIAS, ELIANA V; QUIROGA, RODRIGO; GOTTIG, NATALIA; NAKANISHI, HIDEKI; NASH, THEODORE E; NEIMAN, AARON; LUJAN, HUGO D

JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY

AMER SOC BIOCHEMISTRY MOLECULAR BIOLOGY INC

Año: 2008 vol. 283 p. 35996 - 35996

0021-9258

meta content="1" name="qrichtext" /> p, li { white-space: pre-wrap; } Giardia is a eukaryotic protozoal parasite with unusual characteristics, such as the absence of a morphologically evident Golgi apparatus. Although both constitutive and regulated pathways for protein secretion are evident in Giardia, little is known about the mechanisms involved in vesicular docking and fusion. In higher eukaryotes, soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptors (SNAREs) of the vesicle-associated membrane protein and syntaxin families play essential roles in these processes. In this work we identified and characterized genes for 17 SNAREs in Giardia to define the minimal set of subcellular organelles present during growth and encystation, in particular the presence or not of a Golgi apparatus. Expression and l