Gazanion E., Vergnes Baptiste. (2018). Protozoan parasite auxotrophies and metabolic dependencies. In :
Silvestre R. (ed.), Torrado E. (ed.). Metabolic interaction in Infection. Cham : Springer, p. 351-375. (Experientia Supplementum ; 109). ISBN 978-3-319-74932-7. ISSN 1664-431X.
Titre du document
Protozoan parasite auxotrophies and metabolic dependencies
Année de publication
2018
Type de document
Partie d'ouvrage
Auteurs
Gazanion E., Vergnes Baptiste
In
Silvestre R. (ed.), Torrado E. (ed.), Metabolic interaction in Infection
Source
Cham : Springer, 2018,
p. 351-375 (Experientia Supplementum ; 109). ISBN 978-3-319-74932-7 ISSN 1664-431X
Diseases caused by protozoan parasites have a major impact on world health. These early branching eukaryotes cause significant morbidity and mortality in humans and livestock. During evolution, protozoan parasites have evolved toward complex life cycles in multiple host organisms with different nutritional resources. The conservation of functional metabolic pathways required for these successive environments is therefore a prerequisite for parasitic lifestyle. Nevertheless, parasitism drives genome evolution toward gene loss and metabolic dependencies (including strict auxotrophy), especially for obligatory intracellular parasites. In this chapter, we will compare and contrast how protozoan parasites have perfected this metabolic adaptation by focusing on specific auxotrophic pathways and scavenging strategies used by clinically relevant apicomplexan and trypanosomatid parasites to access host’s nutritional resources. We will further see how these metabolic dependencies have in turn been exploited for therapeutic purposes against these human pathogens.
