Apicoplast fatty acid synthesis is essential for organelle biogenesis and parasite survival in Toxoplasma gondii.

ABSTRACT: Apicomplexan parasites are the cause of numerous important human diseases including malaria and AIDS-associated opportunistic infections. Drug treatment for these diseases is not satisfactory and is threatened by resistance. The discovery of the apicoplast, a chloroplast-like organelle, presents drug targets unique to these parasites. The apicoplast-localized fatty acid synthesis (FAS II) pathway, a metabolic process fundamentally divergent from the analogous FAS I pathway in humans, represents one such target. However, the specific biological roles of apicoplast FAS II remain elusive. Furthermore, the parasite genome encodes additional and potentially redundant pathways for the synthesis of fatty acids. We have constructed a conditional null mutant of acyl carrier protein, a central compo

SUBMITTER: Mazumdar J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1559775 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature