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Elucidating the Biosynthetic Pathway of Rhodoquinone in Caenorhabditis elegans
Author(s) -
Babcock Shan,
Shepherd Jennifer
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.778.6
Subject(s) - caenorhabditis elegans , rna interference , biology , model organism , helminths , organism , host (biology) , gene knockdown , population , gene , genetics , rna , zoology , medicine , environmental health
Parasitic helminthes are worm‐like, obligate endoparasites that can use humans and livestock as their definitive host. The WHO reports about 24% of the world population is infected with a soil‐transmitted parasitic helminth, especially in tropical, third‐world countries where sanitation and hygiene are poor. These infections can cause economical and sociological effects along with negative or even detrimental health effects on the host. There are currently anti‐helminthic drugs available; however, the increased resistance to those drugs and lack of specificity has called for a new drug target. Parasitic helminthes utilize the fumarate reductase pathway for anaerobic respiration while inside of the host. Rhodoquinone (RQ), the final electron transporter in this pathway, is a potential new target for anti‐helminthic drugs because it is required for metabolism while in the host, and humans don't utilize or make RQ. However, the biosynthetic pathway of RQ is not currently known. This study aimed to elucidate the biosynthetic pathway of RQ in the model organism, Caenorhabditis elegans , using RNA interference (RNAi) to knockdown four potential genes involved in the pathway. C. elegans was used as the model organism because of the similar physiology and close phylogeny to parasitic helminthes. Liquid chromatography‐mass spectrometry (LC‐MS) and real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT‐qPCR) were used to quantify RQ levels in C. elegans after RNAi feeding experiments. Support or Funding Information National Institutes of Health (1R15GM096398‐01) and Howard Hughes Medical Institute (award to Gonzaga University)