The Past, Present, and Future of Genetic Manipulation in Toxoplasma gondii

Trends Parasitol. 2016 May 12. pii: S1471-4922(16)30030-7. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2016.04.013. [Epub ahead of print]

Wang JL1, Huang SY2, Behnke MS3, Chen K1, Shen B4, Zhu XQ5.

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Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii is a classic model for studying obligate intracellular microorganisms as various genetic manipulation tools have been developed in T. gondii over the past 20 years. Here we summarize the major strategies for T. gondii genetic manipulation including genetic crosses, insertional mutagenesis, chemical mutagenesis, homologous gene replacement, conditional knockdown techniques, and the recently developed clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-Cas9 system. We evaluate the advantages and limitations of each of these tools in a historical perspective. We also discuss additional applications of modified CRISPR-Cas9 systems for use in T. gondii, such as regulation of gene expression, labeling of specific genomic loci, and epigenetic modifications. These approaches have the potential to revolutionize the analysis of T. gondii biology and help us to better develop new drugs and vaccines.

Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

PMID:

 

27184069

 

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