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MBE Advance Access originally published online on June 16, 2009
Molecular Biology and Evolution 2009 26(9):1941-1947; doi:10.1093/molbev/msp117
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Research Articles

The Protein Import Channel in the Outer Mitosomal Membrane of Giardia intestinalis

Michael J. Dagley*,{dagger}, Pavel Dolezal{ddagger}, Vladimir A. Likic{dagger}, Ondrej Smid{ddagger}, Anthony W. Purcell*,{dagger}, Susan K. Buchanan§, Jan Tachezy{ddagger} and Trevor Lithgow*,||

* Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia
{dagger} Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia
{ddagger} Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Vinicna 7, Praha 2, Czech Republic
§ Laboratory of Molecular Biology, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, US National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
|| Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, Clayton, Australia

E-mail: trevor.lithgow{at}med.monash.edu.au.

Accepted for publication January 8, 2009.

The identification of mitosomes in Giardia generated significant debate on the evolutionary origin of these organelles, whether they were highly reduced mitochondria or the product of a unique endosymbiotic event in an amitochondrial organism. As the protein import pathway is a defining characteristic of mitochondria, we sought to discover a TOM (translocase in the outer mitochondrial membrane) complex in Giardia. A Hidden Markov model search of the Giardia genome identified a Tom40 homologous sequence (GiTom40), where Tom40 is the protein translocation channel of the TOM complex. The GiTom40 protein is located in the membrane of mitosomes in a ~200-kDa TOM complex. As Tom40 was derived in the development of mitochondria to serve as the protein import channel in the outer membrane, its presence in Giardia evidences the mitochondrial ancestry of mitosomes.

Key Words: mitochondria • mitosomes • Giardia intestinalis • protein translocation • evolution

Martin Embley, Associate Editor


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