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Iron-sulfur proteins and the role of iron in the gene expression of Trichomonas vaginalis
Horváthová, Lenka ; Tachezy, Jan (advisor) ; Rasoloson, Dominique (referee) ; Vyoral, Daniel (referee)
Iron is an essential nutrient for the parasitic protist Trichomonas vaginalis as a component of iron-sulfur (FeS) proteins that are indispensable for energy metabolism of the parasite. The FeS clusters are formed by FeS cluster (ISC) assembly machinery that resides, together with a number of FeS proteins, in Trichomonas hydrogenosomes. These double-membrane bound organelles, which are related to mitochondria, metabolize malate and pyruvate and produce ATP and molecular hydrogen. To obtain more complete information about hydrogenosomal pathways with particular focus on FeS proteins and ISC machinery, we participated on analysis of T. vaginalis genome sequence. To predict hydrogenosomal localization of putative gene products, we developed an application "Hunter" for the in silico searching for N-terminal presequences that are required for protein targeting into the hydrogenosomes. This approach substantially contributed to annotate genes coding for hydrogenosomal proteins that provided base for construction of novel map of hydrogenosomal metabolism as well as for following proteomic studies. Investigation of hydrogenosomal proteins led to identification of three members of Hyd machinery that is required for the maturation of the specific FeS cluster of hydrogenases named H cluster. T. vaginalis is,...
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