Characterization of the Role of Amylo-Alpha-1,6-Glucosidase Protein in the Infectivity of Toxoplasma gondii

Cao, Xue-Zhen; Wang, Jin-Lei; Elsheikha, Hany M.; Li, Ting-Ting; Sun, Li-Xiu; Liang, Qin-Li; Zhang, Zhi-Wei; Lin, Rui-Qing

doi:10.3389/fcimb.2019.00418

Characterization of the Role of Amylo-Alpha-1,6-Glucosidase Protein in the Infectivity of Toxoplasma gondii

Cao, Xue-Zhen; Wang, Jin-Lei; Elsheikha, Hany M.; Li, Ting-Ting; Sun, Li-Xiu; Liang, Qin-Li; Zhang, Zhi-Wei; Lin, Rui-Qing

Authors

Xue-Zhen Cao

Jin-Lei Wang

Professor HANY ELSHEIKHA hany.elsheikha@nottingham.ac.uk
Professor of Interdisciplinary Parasitology

Ting-Ting Li

Li-Xiu Sun

Qin-Li Liang

Zhi-Wei Zhang

Rui-Qing Lin

Abstract

In this study, we characterized the role of amylo-alpha-1,6-glucosidase (Aa16GL) in the biology and infectivity of Toxoplasma gondii, using Aa16GL-deficient parasites of type I RH and type II Prugniaud (Pru) strains. The subcellular localization of Aa16GL protein was characterized by tagging a 3 × HA to the 3′ end of the Aa16GL gene endogenous locus. Immunostaining of the expressed Aa16GL protein revealed that it is located in several small cytoplasmic puncta. Functional characterization of ΔAa16GL mutants using plaque assay, egress assay and intracellular replication assay showed that parasites lacking Aa16GL exhibit a slight reduction in the growth rate, but remained virulent to mice. Although PruΔAa16GL tachyzoites retained the ability to differentiate into bradyzoites in vitro, they exhibited slight reduction in their ability to form cysts in mice. These findings reveal new properties of Aa16GL and suggest that while it does not have a substantial role in mediating T. gondii infectivity, this protein can influence the formation of parasite cysts in mice.

Citation

Cao, X., Wang, J., Elsheikha, H. M., Li, T., Sun, L., Liang, Q., …Lin, R. (2019). Characterization of the Role of Amylo-Alpha-1,6-Glucosidase Protein in the Infectivity of Toxoplasma gondii. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, 9, Article 418. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2019.00418

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Nov 22, 2019
Online Publication Date	Dec 6, 2019
Publication Date	Dec 6, 2019
Deposit Date	Dec 11, 2019
Publicly Available Date	Dec 11, 2019
Journal	Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology
Electronic ISSN	2235-2988
Publisher	Frontiers Media
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	9
Article Number	418
DOI	https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2019.00418
Keywords	Immunology; Microbiology (medical); Microbiology; Infectious Diseases
Public URL	https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3534910
Publisher URL	https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2019.00418/full