Microsporidia, amitochondrial protists, possess a 70-kDa heat shock protein gene of mitochondrial evolutionary origin |
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Authors: | Peyretaillade E; Broussolle V; Peyret P; Metenier G; Gouy M; Vivares CP |
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Institution: | Laboratoire de Protistologie Moleculaire et Cellulaire des Parasites Opportunistes, Universite Blaise Pascal, Aubiere, France. |
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Abstract: | An intronless gene encoding a protein of 592 amino acid residues with
similarity to 70-kDa heat shock proteins (HSP70s) has been cloned and
sequenced from the amitochondrial protist Encephalitozoon cuniculi (phylum
Microsporidia). Southern blot analyses show the presence of a single gene
copy located on chromosome XI. The encoded protein exhibits an N-terminal
hydrophobic leader sequence and two motifs shared by proteobacterial and
mitochondrially expressed HSP70 homologs. Phylogenetic analysis using
maximum likelihood and evolutionary distances place the E. cuniculi
sequence in the cluster of mitochondrially expressed HSP70s, with a higher
evolutionary rate than those of homologous sequences. Similar results were
obtained after cloning a fragment of the homologous gene in the closely
related species E. hellem. The presence of a nuclear targeting signal-like
sequence supports a role of the Encephalitozoon HSP70 as a molecular
chaperone of nuclear proteins. No evidence for cytosolic or endoplasmic
reticulum forms of HSP70 was obtained through PCR amplification. These data
suggest that Encephalitozoon species have evolved from an ancestor bearing
mitochondria, which is in disagreement with the postulated presymbiotic
origin of Microsporidia. The specific role and intracellular localization
of the mitochondrial HSP70-like protein remain to be elucidated.
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