Harnessing the power of new genetic tools to illuminate Giardia biology and pathogenesis.
Genetics
; 227(2)2024 06 05.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38626297
ABSTRACT
Giardia is a prevalent single-celled microaerophilic intestinal parasite causing diarrheal disease and significantly impacting global health. Double diploid (essentially tetraploid) Giardia trophozoites have presented a formidable challenge to the development of molecular genetic tools to interrogate gene function. High sequence divergence and the high percentage of hypothetical proteins lacking homology to proteins in other eukaryotes have limited our understanding of Giardia protein function, slowing drug target validation and development. For more than 25 years, Giardia A and B assemblages have been readily amenable to transfection with plasmids or linear DNA templates. Here, we highlight the utility and power of genetic approaches developed to assess protein function in Giardia, with particular emphasis on the more recent clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats/Cas9-based methods for knockdowns and knockouts. Robust and reliable molecular genetic approaches are fundamental toward the interrogation of Giardia protein function and evaluation of druggable targets. New genetic approaches tailored for the double diploid Giardia are imperative for understanding Giardia's unique biology and pathogenesis.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Giardiasis
/
Giardia
Límite:
Animals
/
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Genetics
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Estados Unidos
Pais de publicación:
Estados Unidos