Gene discovery in the Acanthamoeba castellanii genome
Acanthamoeba castellanii is a free-living amoeba found in soil, freshwater, and marine environments and an important predator of bacteria. Acanthamoeba castellanii is also an opportunistic pathogen of clinical interest, responsible for several distinct diseases in humans. In order to provide a genomic platform for the study of this ubiquitous and important protist, we generated a sequence survey of approximately 0.5 x coverage of the genome. The data predict that A. castellanii exhibits a greater biosynthetic capacity than the free-living Dictyostelium discoideum and the parasite Entamoeba histolytica, providing an explanation for the ability of A. castellanii to inhabit adversity of environments. Alginate lyase may provide access to bacteria within biofilms by breaking down the biofilm matrix, and polyhydroxybutyrate depolymerase may facilitate utilization of the bacterial storage compound polyhydroxybutyrate as a food source. Enzymes for the synthesis and breakdown of cellulose were identified, and they likely participate in encystation and excystation as in D. discoideum. Trehalose-6-phosphate synthase is present, suggesting that trehalose plays a role in stress adaptation. Detection and response to a number of stress conditions is likely accomplished with a large set of signal transduction histidine kinases and a set of putative receptorserine/threonine kinases similar to those found in E. histolytica. Serine, cysteine and metalloproteases were identified, some of which are likely involved in pathogenicity.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Director. Office of Science. Office of AdvancedScientific Computing Research. Office of Biological and EnvironmentalResearch; National Institutes of Health Grant A148082; Genome Canada,Atlatic Canada Opportunities Agency. Atlantic Innovation Fund. GenomeAtlantic
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC02-05CH11231
- OSTI ID:
- 888974
- Report Number(s):
- LBNL-60431; R&D Project: 626869; BnR: KP1103010; TRN: US200619%%295
- Journal Information:
- Protist, Vol. 156, Issue 2; Related Information: Journal Publication Date: August 2005
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Structure and Function of REP34 Implicates Carboxypeptidase Activity in Francisella tularensis Host Cell Invasion
Effects of pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls and metals on the growth and reproduction of Acanthamoeba castellanii