January 2006 archive

Pyruvate-phosphate dikinase of oxymonads and parabasalia and the evolution of pyrophosphate-dependent glycolysis in anaerobic eukaryotes

In pyrophosphate-dependent glycolysis, the ATP/ADP-dependent enzymes phosphofructokinase (PFK) and pyruvate kinase are replaced by the pyrophosphate-dependent PFK and pyruvate phosphate dikinase (PPDK), respectively. This variant of glycolysis is widespread among bacteria, but it also occurs in a few parasitic anaerobic eukaryotes such as Giardia and Entamoeba spp. We sequenced two genes for PPDK from the amitochondriate oxymonad Streblomastix strix and found evidence for PPDK in Trichomonas…