Reductive evolution during the adaptation to obligate parasitism and expansions of gene families encoding virulence factors are characteristics evident to greater or lesser degrees in all parasitic protists studied to date. Large evolutionary distances separate many parasitic protists from the yeast and animal models upon which classic views of eukaryotic biochemistry are often based. Thus a combination of evolutionary divergence, niche adaptation and reductive evolution means the biochemistry of parasitic protists is often very different from their hosts and to other eukaryotes generally, making parasites intriguing subjects for those interested in the phenomenon of moonlighting proteins. In common with other organisms, the contribution of protein moonlighting to parasite biology is only just emerging, and it is not without controversy. Here, an overview of recently identified moonlighting proteins in parasitic protists is provided, together with discussion of some of the controversies.
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Conference Article|
November 17 2014
Protein moonlighting in parasitic protists
Michael L. Ginger
Michael L. Ginger
1
*Division of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medicine, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YG, U.K.
1emailm.ginger@lancaster.ac.uk
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
August 05 2014
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2014 Biochemical Society
2014
Biochem Soc Trans (2014) 42 (6): 1734–1739.
Article history
Received:
August 05 2014
Citation
Michael L. Ginger; Protein moonlighting in parasitic protists. Biochem Soc Trans 1 December 2014; 42 (6): 1734–1739. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST20140215
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