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A Trk/HKT-type K+ transporter from Trypanosoma brucei

Mosimann, M. and Goshima, S. and Wenzler, T. and Luscher, A. and Uozumi, N. and Mäser, P.. (2010) A Trk/HKT-type K+ transporter from Trypanosoma brucei. Eukaryotic Cell, Vol. 9, H. 4. pp. 539-546.

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Official URL: http://edoc.unibas.ch/dok/A5842792

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Abstract

The molecular mechanisms of K(+) homeostasis are only poorly understood for protozoan parasites. Trypanosoma brucei subsp. parasites, the causative agents of human sleeping sickness and nagana, are strictly extracellular and need to actively concentrate K(+) from their hosts' body fluids. The T. brucei genome contains two putative K(+) channel genes, yet the trypanosomes are insensitive to K(+) antagonists and K(+) channel-blocking agents, and they do not spontaneously depolarize in response to high extracellular K(+) concentrations. However, the trypanosomes are extremely sensitive to K(+) ionophores such as valinomycin. Surprisingly, T. brucei possesses a member of the Trk/HKT superfamily of monovalent cation permeases which so far had only been known from bacteria, archaea, fungi, and plants. The protein was named TbHKT1 and functions as a Na(+)-independent K(+) transporter when expressed in Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, or Xenopus laevis oocytes. In trypanosomes, TbHKT1 is expressed in both the mammalian bloodstream stage and the Tsetse fly midgut stage; however, RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated silencing of TbHKT1 expression did not produce a growth phenotype in either stage. The presence of HKT genes in trypanosomatids adds a further piece to the enigmatic phylogeny of the Trk/HKT superfamily of K(+) transporters. Parsimonial analysis suggests that the transporters were present in the first eukaryotes but subsequently lost in several of the major eukaryotic lineages, in at least four independent events
Faculties and Departments:09 Associated Institutions > Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) > Department of Medical Parasitology and Infection Biology (MPI) > Parasite Chemotherapy (Mäser)
UniBasel Contributors:Mäser, Pascal
Item Type:Article, refereed
Article Subtype:Research Article
Publisher:American Society for Microbiology
ISSN:1535-9778
Note:Publication type according to Uni Basel Research Database: Journal article
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Last Modified:14 Sep 2012 07:19
Deposited On:14 Sep 2012 06:48

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