Insight into mitochondria function and evolution from studies of a plant pathogenic stramenopile

在真核生物中，代谢反应通常被分配到不同的细胞室中。一组被认为只发生在细胞质中的代谢反应是糖酵解，这是产生细胞能量的化学反应。在这个项目中，PI将调查与教科书中广泛接受的卵菌糖酵解定义的偏差，卵菌是一组动植物病原体，其中部分糖酵解被认为发生在线粒体中。该项目将更好地了解马铃薯致病疫霉的这些代谢反应的起源和多样性。将被研究的新的卵菌代谢途径也代表着潜在的靶点，可以利用抑制剂来开发新的疾病控制策略。这将产生经济效益和环境效益，提高农业生产的可持续性，并增加粮食安全。该项目还支持科学教育和通过在西班牙裔服务机构的研究生和本科生的参与来培训多样化的劳动力。我们目前对糖酵解的理解主要基于几个模型生物。本项目以马铃薯致病疫霉为模型，重点研究线粒体和该细胞器中的代谢区划在糖酵解中的作用。这种丝状真核微生物是稻草菌王国卵菌群的一员。由于稻草虫的进化史与经典模式生物的进化史不同，这个项目将阐明线粒体的起源和多样性。该项目的第一个目标是研究卵菌线粒体中发现的糖酵解酶。经典的观点认为糖酵解发生在胞浆中，但代表糖酵解的回报阶段的酶被预测也发生在卵菌线粒体中。这些新的酶将通过使用荧光标签定位相关酶、沉默它们的基因并评估它们的活性来研究。该项目的第二个目标是更广泛地检查致病疫霉线粒体，目的是确定细胞器中的其他新途径。这项研究将整合进化生物学、细胞生物学、生物化学和分子遗传学。

In eukaryotes, metabolic reactions are typically partitioned between different cellular compartments. One set of metabolic reactions thought to occur only in the cytoplasm is glycolysis, the chemical reactions that generate cellular energy. In this project, the PI will investigate a deviation from this well-accepted textbook definition of glycolysis in Oomycetes, a group of plant and animal pathogens, in which part of glycolysis is proposed to occur in mitochondria. The project will provide a better understanding of the origins and diversity of these metabolic reactions in the potato pathogen Phytophthora infestans. The novel oomycete metabolic pathways that will be studied also represent potential targets for inhibitors that can be exploited to develop new disease control strategies. This will yield economic and environmental benefits, raise the sustainability of agricultural production, and increase food security. The project also supports scientific education and the training of a diverse workforce through the participation of graduate and undergraduate students at a Hispanic-Serving Institution.Our current understanding of glycolysis is based largely on a few model organisms. This project focuses on the role of mitochondria and metabolic compartmentalization in that organelle in glycolysis, using as a model the potato pathogen Phytophthora infestans. This filamentous eukaryotic microbe is a member of the oomycete group of the stramenopile kingdom. Since the evolutionary history of stramenopiles is distinct from that of classic model organisms, this project will shed light on the origins of mitochondria and diversity. The first objective of the project is to study glycolytic enzymes that are found in oomycete mitochondria. The classic view is that glycolysis takes place in the cytosol, but enzymes representing the payoff phase of glycolysis are predicted to also occur in oomycete mitochondria. These novel enzymes will be studied by localizing the relevant enzymes using fluorescent tags, silencing their genes, and assessing their activity. The second objective of the project is to examine P. infestans mitochondria more broadly with a goal of identifying other novel pathways in the organelle. The research will integrate evolutionary biology, cell biology, biochemistry, and molecular genetics.