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Plasmenylethanolamine synthesis in Leishmania major
Author(s) -
Pawlowic Mattie C.,
Hsu Fongfu,
Moitra Samrat,
Biyani Neha,
Zhang Kai
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
molecular microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.857
H-Index - 247
eISSN - 1365-2958
pISSN - 0950-382X
DOI - 10.1111/mmi.13387
Subject(s) - biology , ethanolamine , leishmania , lipophosphoglycan , leishmania major , glycerophospholipids , biochemistry , leishmania donovani , virulence , amastigote , trypanosoma brucei , mutant , leishmania mexicana , plasmalogen , biosynthesis , phosphatidylcholine , microbiology and biotechnology , phospholipid , membrane , gene , parasite hosting , leishmaniasis , genetics , world wide web , computer science , visceral leishmaniasis
Summary Ethanolamine glycerophospholipids are ubiquitous cell membrane components. Trypanosomatid parasites of the genus Leishmania synthesize the majority of their ethanolamine glycerophospholipids as 1‐O‐alk‐1′‐enyl‐2‐acyl‐ sn ‐glycero‐3‐phosphoethanolamine or plasmenylethanolamine (PME) through the Kennedy pathway. PME is a subtype of ether phospholipids also known as ethanolamine plasmalogen whose functions are not well characterized. In this study, we investigated the role of PME synthesis in Leishmania major through the characterization of an ethanolamine phosphotransferase (EPT) mutant. EPT‐null parasites are largely devoid of PME and fully viable in regular medium but fail to proliferate in the absence of fetal bovine serum. They exhibit significant abnormalities in the synthesis and localization of GPI‐anchored surface molecules. EPT‐null mutants also show attenuated virulence in BALB/c mice. Furthermore, in addition to PME synthesis, ethanolamine also contributes to the production of phosphatidylcholine, the most abundant class of lipids in Leishmania . Together, these findings suggest that ethanolamine production is likely required for Leishmania promastigotes to generate bulk phospholipids, to handle stress, and to control the expression of membrane bound virulence factors.