Giardia intestinalis mitosomes undergo synchronized fission but not fusion and are constitutively associated with the endoplasmic reticulum.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Mitochondria of opisthokonts undergo permanent fission and fusion throughout the cell cycle. Here, we investigated the dynamics of the mitosomes, the simplest forms of mitochondria, in the anaerobic protist parasite Giardia intestinalis, a member of the Excavata supergroup of eukaryotes. The mitosomes have abandoned typical mitochondrial traits such as the mitochondrial genome and aerobic respiration and their single role known to date is the formation of iron-sulfur clusters.

Results

In live experiments, no fusion events were observed between the mitosomes in G. intestinalis. Moreover, the organelles were highly prone to becoming heterogeneous. This suggests that fusion is either much less frequent or even absent in mitosome dynamics. Unlike in mitochondria, divi

SUBMITTER: Voleman L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5377515 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature