Do all Coccidia follow the same trafficking rules?

Marugan-Hernandez, Virginia; Tomley, Fiona; Sanchez-Arsuaga, Gonzalo

Abstract

The Coccidia are a subclass of the Apicomplexa including several genera of protozoan parasites that cause important diseases in humans and animals, with Toxoplasma gondii becoming the ‘model organism’ for research into coccidian molecular and cellular processes. The amenability to cultivation of T. gondii tachyzoites and the wide availability of molecular tools for this parasite have helped reveal many mechanisms related to cellular trafficking and roles of parasite secretory organelles, which are critical in parasite-host interaction. Nevertheless, extrapolation of T. gondii mechanisms described in tachyzoites to other coccidian parasites should be done carefully. In this review, we considered published data from Eimeria parasites, a coccidian genus comprising thousands of species whose infections have important consequences in livestock and poultry. These studies suggest that the Coccidia possess both shared and diversified mechanisms of protein trafficking and secretion potentially linked to their lifecycles, and whilst trafficking and secretion prior to and during host-cell invasion appear to be well conserved, important differ-ences emerge once endogenous development commences. Therefore, further studies to validate currently described mechanisms in T. gondii tachyzoites should be performed across a broader range of coccidians (including T. gondii sporozoites), that further genus-specific research is needed in important disease-causing Coccidia to unveil individual molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis related to their specific lifecycles and hosts.

Citation

Marugan-Hernandez, V., Tomley, F., & Sanchez-Arsuaga, G. (2021). Do all Coccidia follow the same trafficking rules?. Life, https://doi.org/10.3390/life11090909

• Journal Article Type: Review
• Acceptance Date: Aug 27, 2021
• Publication Date: Aug 31, 2021
• Deposit Date: Nov 2, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 2, 2021
• Journal: Life
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/life11090909
• Public URL: https://rvc-repository.worktribe.com/output/1550322