Abstract
Leishmania major causes leishmaniasis and is grouped within the Trypanosomatidae family, which also includes the etiologic agent for African sleeping sickness, Trypanosoma brucei. Previous studies on T. brucei showed that acyl carrier protein (ACP) of mitochondrial fatty acid synthase type 2 (FASII) plays a crucial role in parasite survival. Additionally, 3-oxoacyl-ACP synthase TbKASIII as well as TbHTD2 representing 3-hydroxyacyl-ACP dehydratase were also identified; however, 3-oxoacyl-ACP reductase TbKAR1 has hitherto evaded positive identification. Here, potential Leishmania FASII components LmjF07.0440 and LmjF07.0430 were revealed as 3-hydroxyacyl-ACP dehydratases LmHTD2-1 and LmHTD2-2, respectively, whereas LmjF27.2440 was identified as LmKAR1. These Leishmania proteins were ectopically expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae htd2Delta or oar1Delta respiratory deficient cells lacking the corresponding mitochondrial FASII enzymes Htd2p and Oar1p. Yeast mutants producing mitochondrially targeted versions of the parasite proteins resembled the self-complemented cells for respiratory growth. This is the first identification of a FASII-like 3-oxoacyl-ACP reductase from a kinetoplastid parasite.