Toxoplasma gondii Requires Glycogen Phosphorylase for Balancing Amylopectin Storage and for Efficient Production of Brain Cysts.

ABSTRACT: In immunocompromised hosts, latent infection with Toxoplasma gondii can reactivate from tissue cysts, leading to encephalitis. A characteristic of T. gondii bradyzoites in tissue cysts is the presence of amylopectin granules. The regulatory mechanisms and role of amylopectin accumulation in this organism are not fully understood. The T. gondii genome encodes a putative glycogen phosphorylase (TgGP), and mutants were constructed to manipulate the activity of TgGP and to evaluate the function of TgGP in amylopectin storage. Both a stop codon mutant (Pru/TgGP^S25stop [expressing a Ser-to-stop codon change at position 25 in TgGP]) and a phosphorylation null mutant (Pru/TgGP^S25A [expressing a Ser-to-Ala change at position 25 in TgGp]) mutated at Ser25 d

SUBMITTER: Sugi T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5574715 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature