Conditional genome engineering in Toxoplasma gondii uncovers alternative invasion mechanisms

Nat Methods. 2012 Dec 23. doi: 10.1038/nmeth.2301. [Epub ahead of print]

Conditional genome engineering in Toxoplasma gondii uncovers alternative invasion mechanisms

Andenmatten N, Egarter S, Jackson AJ, Jullien N, Herman JP, Meissner M.

1] Wellcome Trust Centre for Molecular Parasitology, Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK. [2].

We established a conditional site-specific recombination system based on dimerizable Cre recombinase-mediated recombination in the apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Using a new single-vector strategy that allows ligand-dependent, efficient removal of a gene of interest, we generated three knockouts of apicomplexan genes considered essential for host-cell invasion. Our findings uncovered the existence of an alternative invasion pathway in apicomplexan parasites.

 PMID: 23263690 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]