In vivo function of the ferredoxin redox system in the plastid-derived organelle of parasitic apicomplexa

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Frank Seeber
• Subject Area: Parasitology and Biology of Tropical Infectious Disease Pathogens
• Term: from 2002 to 2010
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5373032

The specific aim of this proposal is to understand which metabolic function(s) the plant-like ferredoxin redox-system fulfills within the plastid-like organelle (called apicoplast) of apicomplexan parasites, including Toxoplasma gondii. In plant plastids this system is involved in a variety of essential metabolic processes like fatty acid desaturation and amino acid synthesis, whereas nothing is known about its function in apicomplexan parasites. Through the transgenic regulated overexpression of a transdominant negative mutant ferredoxin reductase in T. gondii we want to gener-ate mutant parasites whose phenotype will be analyzed according to several of the presumed metabolic processes it might be involved in. This approach will be paral-leled by a yeast two-hybrid screen or conventional affinity chromatography, respec-tively, to identify ferredoxin-interacting proteins. One novel hypothesis we will test is the involvement of ferredoxin in the plastidial [Fe-S] cluster biogenesis. Because of the presumed essential role of the ferredoxin redox system for the apicoplast's me-tabolism we expect to gain fundamental insights into various aspects of the biology of this organelle and its possible interaction with other compartments of the parasite.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1131: Life Inside Cells