Biochemical and genetic evidence for the presence of multiple phosphatidylinositol- and phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate-specific phospholipases C in Tetrahymena.

ABSTRACT: Eukaryotic phosphoinositide-specific phospholipases C (PI-PLC) specifically hydrolyze phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate [PtdIns(4,5)P(2)], produce the Ca(2+)-mobilizing agent inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate, and regulate signaling in multicellular organisms. Bacterial PtdIns-specific PLCs, also present in trypanosomes, hydrolyze PtdIns and glycosyl-PtdIns, and they are considered important virulence factors. All unicellular eukaryotes studied so far contain a single PI-PLC-like gene. In this report, we show that ciliates are an exception, since we provide evidence that Tetrahymena species contain two sets of functional genes coding for both bacterial and eukaryotic PLCs. Biochemical characterization revealed two PLC activities that differ in their phosphoinositide substrate utilization, s

SUBMITTER: Leondaritis G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3067471 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature