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Electron Tomographic and Ultrastructural Analysis of the Cryptosporidium parvum Relict Mitochondrion, its Associated Membranes, and Organelles

Electron Tomographic and Ultrastructural Analysis of the Cryptosporidium parvum Relict... Abstract. Sporozoites of the apicomplexan Cryptosporidium parvum possess a small, membranous organelle sandwiched between the nucleus and crystalloid body. Based upon immunolabelling data, this organelle was identified as a relict mitochondrion. Transmission electron microscopy and tomographic reconstruction reveal the complex arrangement of membranes in the vicinity of this organelle, as well as its internal organization. The mitochondrion is enveloped by multiple segments of rough endoplasmic reticulum that extend from the outer nuclear envelope. In tomographic reconstructions of the mitochondrion, there is either a single, highly‐folded inner membrane or multiple internal subcompartments (which might merge outside the reconstructed volume). The infoldings of the inner membrane lack the tubular “crista junctions” found in typical metazoan, fungal, and protist mitochondria. The absence of this highly conserved structural feature is congruent with the loss, through reductive evolution, of the normal oxidative phosphorylation machinery in C. parvum. It is proposed that the retention of a relict mitochondrion in C. parvum is a strategy for compartmentalizing away from the cytosol toxic ferrous iron and sulfide, which are needed for iron sulfur cluster biosynthesis, an essential function of mitochondria in all eukaryotes. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology Wiley

Electron Tomographic and Ultrastructural Analysis of the Cryptosporidium parvum Relict Mitochondrion, its Associated Membranes, and Organelles

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References (99)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 2005 Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company
ISSN
1066-5234
eISSN
1550-7408
DOI
10.1111/j.1550-7408.2005.04-3317.x
pmid
15817118
Publisher site
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Abstract

Abstract. Sporozoites of the apicomplexan Cryptosporidium parvum possess a small, membranous organelle sandwiched between the nucleus and crystalloid body. Based upon immunolabelling data, this organelle was identified as a relict mitochondrion. Transmission electron microscopy and tomographic reconstruction reveal the complex arrangement of membranes in the vicinity of this organelle, as well as its internal organization. The mitochondrion is enveloped by multiple segments of rough endoplasmic reticulum that extend from the outer nuclear envelope. In tomographic reconstructions of the mitochondrion, there is either a single, highly‐folded inner membrane or multiple internal subcompartments (which might merge outside the reconstructed volume). The infoldings of the inner membrane lack the tubular “crista junctions” found in typical metazoan, fungal, and protist mitochondria. The absence of this highly conserved structural feature is congruent with the loss, through reductive evolution, of the normal oxidative phosphorylation machinery in C. parvum. It is proposed that the retention of a relict mitochondrion in C. parvum is a strategy for compartmentalizing away from the cytosol toxic ferrous iron and sulfide, which are needed for iron sulfur cluster biosynthesis, an essential function of mitochondria in all eukaryotes.

Journal

The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology – Wiley

Published: Mar 1, 2005

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