NIF-type iron-sulfur cluster assembly system is duplicated and distributed in the mitochondria and cytosol of Mastigamoeba balamuthi.

ABSTRACT: In most eukaryotes, the mitochondrion is the main organelle for the formation of iron-sulfur (FeS) clusters. This function is mediated through the iron-sulfur cluster assembly machinery, which was inherited from the α-proteobacterial ancestor of mitochondria. In Archamoebae, including pathogenic Entamoeba histolytica and free-living Mastigamoeba balamuthi, the complex iron-sulfur cluster machinery has been replaced by an ε-proteobacterial nitrogen fixation (NIF) system consisting of two components: NifS (cysteine desulfurase) and NifU (scaffold protein). However, the cellular localization of the NIF system and the involvement of mitochondria in archamoebal FeS assembly are controversial. Here, we show that the genes for both NIF components are duplicated within the M. balamuthi genome. One

SUBMITTER: Nyvltova E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3645556 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature