Projects & Grants
| Trypanosomatids are much more than just trypanosomes: insights from outliers | |
|---|---|
| Project Id | 20-07186S |
| Main solver | prof. MSc. Vjačeslav Jurčenko, Ph.D. |
| Period | 1/2020 - 6/2023 |
| Provider | Standardní projekt GA ČR |
| State | finished |
| Anotation | Trypanosomatids are parasitic protists that are very diverse and include serious pathogens of humans and other vertebrates. They also represent the best studied unicellular eukaryotes. Thanks to the recent discovery of two unusual trypanosomatid species, we propose to study 1) the endosymbiotic relationship between the flagellate Novymonas and bacterium Pandoraea and 2) the motility of the trypanosomatid CPO21. We plan to transform the Novymonas- Pandoraea system into a genetically tractable one, which will allow dissection in detail of their intricate relationship, apparently still unstable and thus likely recently acquired. We hypothesize the import of numerous Novymonas-encoded proteins into the Pandoraea cell for the latter?s domestication. Moreover, by studying the trypanosomatid CPO21, which uniquely has two flagella for most of its lifecycle, we want to explore monoflagellar and biflagellar motility in a detailed and comparative manner. Studying these two unique species would reveal principle evolutionary and functional forces underlying emergence of such complex novelties. |
