TgAP2X-7 is a novel cell cycle-regulated transcription factor that plays an essential role in <i>Toxoplasma</i> tachyzoite propagation.

ABSTRACT: Apicomplexan AP2 (ApiAP2) family proteins are a family of transcription factors that are known to regulate gene expression in apicomplexan pathogens, including Toxoplasma. In this study, we focused on TgAP2X-7, a member of the APiAP2 family that is predicted to be essential for Toxoplasma fitness. Endogenous tagging of TgAP2X-7 followed by immunofluorescence analysis revealed that it's a cell cycle-regulated nuclear protein with peak expression in the G1 phase. Since TgAP2X-7 is predicted to be essential for parasite growth, we adopted an auxin-inducible degron (AID) based conditional knockdown approach to understand its function. Phenotypic analysis of the conditional knockdown mutant of TgAP2X-7 showed that the protein is indeed essential for Toxoplasma propagation <

SUBMITTER: Mandadi P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12482157 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature