Publication Date:
2012-01-01
Description:
Giardia lambliais an “important” pathogen of humans, but as a diplomonad excavate it is evolutionarily distant from other eukaryotes and relatively little is known about its core metabolic pathways. KEGG, the widely referenced site for providing information of metabolism, does not yet include many enzymes fromGiardiaspecies. Here we identifyGiardia’score sugar metabolism using standard bioinformatic approaches. By comparingGiardiaproteomes with known enzymes from other species, we have identified enzymes in the glycolysis pathway, as well as some enzymes involved in the TCA cycle and oxidative phosphorylation. However, the majority of enzymes from the latter two pathways were not identifiable, indicating the likely absence of these functionalities. We have also found enzymes from theGiardiaglycolysis pathway that appear more similar to those from bacteria. Because these enzymes are different from those found in mammals, the host organisms forGiardia, we raise the possibility that these bacteria-like enzymes could be novel drug targets for treatingGiardiainfections.
Print ISSN:
2090-2166
Electronic ISSN:
2090-2174
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
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