Evolution of eukaryotic transcription : insights from the genome of Giardia lamblia

View/ Open
Date
2004Author
Best, Aaron A.
Concept link
Morrison, Hilary G.
Concept link
McArthur, Andrew G.
Concept link
Sogin, Mitchell L.
Concept link
Olsen, Gary J.
Concept link
Metadata
Show full item recordCitable URI
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/210As published
https://doi.org/10.1101/gr.2256604DOI
10.1101/gr.2256604Abstract
The Giardia lamblia genome sequencing project affords us a unique opportunity to conduct comparative analyses of core cellular systems between early and late-diverging eukaryotes on a genome-wide scale. We report a survey to identify canonical transcription components in Giardia, focusing on RNA polymerase (RNAP) subunits and transcription-initiation factors. Our survey revealed that Giardia contains homologs to 21 of the 28 polypeptides comprising eukaryal RNAPI, RNAPII, and RNAPIII; six of the seven RNAP subunits without giardial homologs are polymerase specific. Components of only four of the 12 general transcription initiation factors have giardial homologs. Surprisingly, giardial TATA-binding protein (TBP) is highly divergent with respect to archaeal and higher eukaryotic TBPs, and a giardial homolog of transcription factor IIB was not identified. We conclude that Giardia represents a transition during the evolution of eukaryal transcription systems, exhibiting a relatively complete set of RNAP subunits and a rudimentary basal initiation apparatus for each transcription system. Most class-specific RNAP subunits and basal initiation factors appear to have evolved after the divergence of Giardia from the main eukaryotic line of descent. Consequently, Giardia is predicted to be unique in many aspects of transcription initiation with respect to paradigms derived from studies in crown eukaryotes.
Description
Author Posting. © Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 2004. This article is posted here by permission of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Genome Research 14 (2004): 1537-1547, doi:10.1101/gr.2256604.
Suggested Citation
Genome Research 14 (2004): 1537-1547Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
The transcriptional response to encystation stimuli in Giardia lamblia is restricted to a small set of genes
Morf, Laura; Spycher, Cornelia; Rehrauer, Hubert; Fournier, Catharine Aquino; Morrison, Hilary G.; Hehl, Adrian B. (2010-07)The protozoan parasite Giardia lamblia undergoes stage-differentiation in the small intestine of the host to an environmentally resistant and infectious cyst. Encystation involves secretion of an extracellular matrix ... -
GiardiaDB and TrichDB : integrated genomic resources for the eukaryotic protist pathogens Giardia lamblia and Trichomonas vaginalis
Aurrecoechea, Cristina; Brestelli, John; Brunk, Brian P.; Carlton, Jane M.; Dommer, Jennifer; Fischer, Steve; Gajria, Bindu; Gao, Xin; Gingle, Alan; Grant, Greg; Harb, Omar S.; Heiges, Mark; Innamorato, Frank; Iodice, John; Kissinger, Jessica C.; Kraemer, Eileen; Li, Wei; Miller, John A.; Morrison, Hilary G.; Nayak, Vishal; Pennington, Cary; Pinney, Deborah F.; Roos, David S.; Ross, Chris; Stoeckert, Christian J.; Sullivan, Steven; Treatman, Charles; Wang, Haiming (Oxford University Press, 2008-09-29)GiardiaDB (http://GiardiaDB.org) and TrichDB (http://TrichDB.org) house the genome databases for Giardia lamblia and Trichomonas vaginalis, respectively, and represent the latest additions to the EuPathDB (http://EuPathDB.org) ... -
Protein phosphatase 2A plays a crucial role in Giardia lamblia differentiation
Lauwaet, Tineke; Davids, Barbara J.; Torres-Escobar, Ascencion; Birkeland, Shanda R.; Cipriano, Michael J.; Preheim, Sarah P.; Palm, Daniel; Svard, Staffan G.; McArthur, Andrew G.; Gillin, Frances D. (2006-12-06)The ability of Giardia lamblia to undergo two distinct differentiations in response to physiologic stimuli is central to its pathogenesis. The giardial cytoskeleton changes drastically during encystation and excystation. ...