The apicomplexan Cryptosporidium parvum is an intestinal parasite that affects healthy humans and animals, and causes an unrelenting infection in immunocompromised individuals such as AIDS patients. We report the complete genome sequence of C. parvum , type II isolate. Genome analysis identifies extremely streamlined metabolic pathways and a reliance on the host for nutrients. In contrast to Plasmodium and Toxoplasma , the parasite lacks an apicoplast and its genome, and possesses a degenerate mitochondrion that has lost its genome. Several novel classes of cell-surface and secreted proteins with a potential role in host interactions and pathogenesis were also detected. Elucidation of the core metabolism, including enzymes with high similarities to bacterial and plant counterparts, opens new avenues for drug development.

Background: Proteinaceous toxins are observed across all levels of inter-organismal and intra-genomic conflicts. These include recently discovered prokaryotic polymorphic toxin systems implicated in intra-specific conflicts. They are characterized by a remarkable diversity of C-terminal toxin domains generated by recombination with standalone toxin-coding cassettes. Prior analysis revealed a striking diversity of nuclease and deaminase domains among the toxin modules. We systematically investigated polymorphic toxin systems using comparative genomics, sequence and structure analysis.Results: Polymorphic toxin systems are distributed across all major bacterial lineages and are delivered by at least eight distinct secretory systems. In addition to type-II, these include type-V, VI, VII (ESX), and the poorly characterized “Photorhabdusvirulence cassettes (PVC)”, PrsW-dependent and MuF phage-capsid-like systems. We present evidence that trafficking of these toxins is often accompanied by autoproteolytic processing catalyzed by HINT, ZU5, PrsW, caspase-like, papain-like, and a novel metallopeptidase associated with the PVC system. We identified over 150 distinct toxin domains in these systems. These span an extraordinary catalytic spectrum to include 23 distinct clades of peptidases, numerous previously unrecognized versions of nucleases and deaminases, ADP-ribosyltransferases, ADP ribosyl cyclases, RelA/SpoT-like nucleotidyltransferases, glycosyltranferases and other enzymes predicted to modify lipids and carbohydrates, and a pore-forming toxin domain. Several of these toxin domains are shared with host-directed effectors of pathogenic bacteria. Over 90 families of immunity proteins might neutralize anywhere between a single to at least 27 distinct types of toxin domains. In some organisms multiple tandem immunity genes or immunity protein domains are organized into polyimmunity loci or polyimmunity proteins. Gene-neighborhood-analysis of polymorphic toxin systems predicts the presence of novel trafficking-related components, and also the organizational logic that allows toxin diversification through recombination. Domain architecture and protein-length analysis revealed that these toxins might be deployed as secreted factors, through directed injection, or via inter-cellular contact facilitated by filamentous structures formed by RHS/YD, filamentous hemagglutinin and other repeats. Phyletic pattern and life-style analysis indicate that polymorphic toxins and polyimmunity loci participate in cooperative behavior and facultative ‘cheating’ in several ecosystems such as the human oral cavity and soil. Multiple domains from these systems have also been repeatedly transferred to eukaryotes and their viruses, such as the nucleo-cytoplasmic large DNA viruses.Conclusions: Along with a comprehensive inventory of toxins and immunity proteins, we present several testable predictions regarding active sites and catalytic mechanisms of toxins, their processing and trafficking and their role in intra-specific and inter-specific interactions between bacteria. These systems provide insights regarding the emergence of key systems at different points in eukaryotic evolution, such as ADP ribosylation, interaction of myosin VI with cargo proteins, mediation of apoptosis, hyphal heteroincompatibility, hedgehog signaling, arthropod toxins, cell-cell interaction molecules like teneurins and different signaling messengers.Reviewers: This article was reviewed by AM, FE and IZ.

RNA metabolism, broadly defined as the compendium of all processes that involve RNA, including transcription, processing and modification of transcripts, translation, RNA degradation and its regulation, is the central and most evolutionarily conserved part of cell physiology. A comprehensive, genome-wide census of all enzymatic and non-enzymatic protein domains involved in RNA metabolism was conducted by using sequence profile analysis and structural comparisons. Proteins related to RNA metabolism comprise from 3 to 11% of the complete protein repertoire in bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes, with the greatest fraction seen in parasitic bacteria with small genomes. Approximately one-half of protein domains involved in RNA metabolism are present in most, if not all, species from all three primary kingdoms and are traceable to the last universal common ancestor (LUCA). The principal features of LUCA’s RNA metabolism system were reconstructed by parsimony-based evolutionary analysis of all relevant groups of orthologous proteins. This reconstruction shows that LUCA possessed not only the basal translation system, but also the principal forms of RNA modification, such as methylation, pseudouridylation and thiouridylation, as well as simple mechanisms for polyadenylation and RNA degradation. Some of these ancient domains form paralogous groups whose evolution can be traced back in time beyond LUCA, towards low-specificity proteins, which probably functioned as cofactors for ribozymes within the RNA world framework. The main lineage-specific innovations of RNA metabolism systems were identified. The most notable phase of innovation in RNA metabolism coincides with the advent of eukaryotes and was brought about by the merge of the archaeal and bacterial systems via mitochondrial endosymbiosis, but also involved emergence of several new, eukaryote-specific RNA-binding domains. Subsequent, vast expansions of these domains mark the origin of alternative splicing in animals and probably in plants. In addition to the reconstruction of the evolutionary history of RNA metabolism, this analysis produced numerous functional predictions, e.g. of previously undetected enzymes of RNA modification.

The presence of a distinct nucleus, the compartment for confining the genome, transcription and RNA maturation, is a central (and eponymous) feature that distinguishes eukaryotes from prokaryotes. ...

Background: The major role of enzymatic toxins that target nucleic acids in biological conflicts at all levels has become increasingly apparent thanks in large part to the advances of comparative genomics. Typically, toxins evolve rapidly hampering the identification of these proteins by sequence analysis. Here we analyze an unexpectedly widespread superfamily of toxin domains most of which possess RNase activity.Results: The HEPN superfamily is comprised of all α-helical domains that were first identified as being associated with DNA polymerase β-type nucleotidyltransferases in prokaryotes and animal Sacsin proteins. Using sensitive sequence and structure comparison methods, we vastly extend the HEPN superfamily by identifying numerous novel families and by detecting diverged HEPN domains in several known protein families. The new HEPN families include the RNase LS and LsoA catalytic domains, KEN domains (e.g. RNaseL and Ire1) and the RNase domains of RloC and PrrC. The majority of HEPN domains contain conserved motifs that constitute a metal-independent endoRNase active site. Some HEPN domains lacking this motif probably function as non-catalytic RNA-binding domains, such as in the case of the mannitol repressor MtlR. Our analysis shows that HEPN domains function as toxins that are shared by numerous systems implicated in intra-genomic, inter-genomic and intra-organismal conflicts across the three domains of cellular life. In prokaryotes HEPN domains are essential components of numerous toxin-antitoxin (TA) and abortive infection (Abi) systems and in addition are tightly associated with many restriction-modification (R-M) and CRISPR-Cas systems, and occasionally with other defense systems such as Pgl and Ter. We present evidence of multiple modes of action of HEPN domains in these systems, which include direct attack on viral RNAs (e.g. LsoA and RNase LS) in conjunction with other RNase domains (e.g. a novel RNase H fold domain, NamA), suicidal or dormancy-inducing attack on self RNAs (RM systems and possibly CRISPR-Cas systems), and suicidal attack coupled with direct interaction with phage components (Abi systems). These findings are compatible with the hypothesis on coupling of pathogen-targeting (immunity) and self-directed (programmed cell death and dormancy induction) responses in the evolution of robust antiviral strategies. We propose that altruistic cell suicide mediated by HEPN domains and other functionally similar RNases was essential for the evolution of kin and group selection and cell cooperation. HEPN domains were repeatedly acquired by eukaryotes and incorporated into several core functions such as endonucleolytic processing of the 5.8S-25S/28S rRNA precursor (Las1), a novel ER membrane-associated RNA degradation system (C6orf70), sensing of unprocessed transcripts at the nuclear periphery (Swt1). Multiple lines of evidence suggest that, similar to prokaryotes, HEPN proteins were recruited to antiviral, antitransposon, apoptotic systems or RNA-level response to unfolded proteins (Sacsin and KEN domains) in several groups of eukaryotes.Conclusions: Extensive sequence and structure comparisons reveal unexpectedly broad presence of the HEPN domain in an enormous variety of defense and stress response systems across the tree of life. In addition, HEPN domains have been recruited to perform essential functions, in particular in eukaryotic rRNA processing. These findings are expected to stimulate experiments that could shed light on diverse cellular processes across the three domains of life.Reviewers: This article was reviewed by Martijn Huynen, Igor Zhulin and Nick Grishin

Comparative genomics of parasitic protists and their free-living relatives are profoundly impacting our understanding of the regulatory systems involved in transcription and chromatin dynamics. While some parts of these systems are highly conserved, other parts are rapidly evolving, thereby providing the molecular basis for the variety in the regulatory adaptations of eukaryotes. The gross number of specific transcription factors and chromatin proteins are positively correlated with proteome size in eukaryotes. However, the individual types of specific transcription factors show an enormous variety across different eukaryotic lineages. The dominant families of specific transcription factors even differ between sister lineages, and have been shaped by gene loss and lineage-specific expansions. Recognition of this principle has helped in identifying the hitherto unknown, major specific transcription factors of several parasites, such as apicomplexans, Entamoeba histolytica, Trichomonas vaginalis, Phytophthora and ciliates. Comparative analysis of predicted chromatin proteins from protists allows reconstruction of the early evolutionary history of histone and DNA modification, nucleosome assembly and chromatin-remodeling systems. Many key catalytic, peptide-binding and DNA-binding domains in these systems ultimately had bacterial precursors, but were put together into distinctive regulatory complexes that are unique to the eukaryotes. In the case of histone methylases, histone demethylases and SWI2/SNF2 ATPases, proliferation of paralogous families followed by acquisition of novel domain architectures, seem to have played a major role in producing a diverse set of enzymes that create and respond to an epigenetic code of modified histones. The diversification of histone acetylases and DNA methylases appears to have proceeded via repeated emergence of new versions, most probably via transfers from bacteria to different eukaryotic lineages, again resulting in lineage-specific diversity in epigenetic signals. Even though the key histone modifications are universal to eukaryotes, domain architectures of proteins binding post-translationally modified-histones vary considerably across eukaryotes. This indicates that the histone code might be "interpreted" differently from model organisms in parasitic protists and their relatives. The complexity of domain architectures of chromatin proteins appears to have increased during eukaryotic evolution. Thus, Trichomonas, Giardia, Naegleria and kinetoplastids have relatively simple domain architectures, whereas apicomplexans and oomycetes have more complex architectures. RNA-dependent post-transcriptional silencing systems, which interact with chromatin-level regulatory systems, show considerable variability across parasitic protists, with complete loss in many apicomplexans and partial loss in Trichomonas vaginalis. This evolutionary synthesis offers a robust scaffold for future investigation of transcription and chromatin structure in parasitic protists.