Minimization and complete loss of general transcription factor proteins in the intracellular parasite <i>Encephalitozoon cuniculi</i>.

ABSTRACT: Genome compaction is a common evolutionary feature of parasites. The unicellular, obligate intracellular parasite Encephalitozoon cuniculi has one of smallest known eukaryotic genomes, and is nearly four times smaller than its distant fungi relative, the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Comparison of the proteins encoded by compacted genomes to those encoded by larger genomes can reveal the most highly conserved features of the encoded proteins. In this study, we identified the proteins comprising the RNA polymerases and their corresponding general transcription factors by using several bioinformatic approaches to compare the transcription machinery of E. cuniculi and S. cerevisiae. Surprisingly, our analyses revealed an overall reduction in the size of t

SUBMITTER: Belkevich AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11810082 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jun-Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature