Project description:The genomic DNAs of strains JPCM5 and 263 of L. infantum, strains LV39 and Friedlin of L. major and strains Parrot-TarII and S125 of L. tarentolae were used in comparative genomic hybridizations to reveal the intra-species and inter-species gene content, and to validate L. tarentolae Parrot-TarII genome sequencing results. Leishmania (Sauroleishmania) tarentolae was first isolated in the lizard Tarentola mauritanica. This species is not known to be pathogenic to humans but is often used as a model organism for molecular analyses or protein overproduction. The Leishmania tarentolae Parrot-TarII strain genome sequence was resolved by high-throughput sequencing technologies. The L. tarentolae genome was first assembled de novo and then aligned against the reference L. major Friedlin genome to facilitate contig positioning and annotation, providing a 23-fold coverage of the genome. This is the first non-pathogenic to humans kinetoplastid protozoan genome to be described, and it provides an opportunity for comparison with the completed genomes of the pathogenic Leishmania species. A high synteny was observed in de novo assembled contigs between all sequenced Leishmania species. A number of limited chromosomal regions diverged between L. tarentolae and L. infantum, while remaining syntenic with L. major. Globally, over 90% of the L. tarentolae gene content was shared with the other Leishmania species. There were 250 L. major genes absent from L. tarentolae, and interestingly these missing genes were primarily expressed in the intracellular amastigote stage of the pathogenic parasites. This implies that L. tarentolae may have impaired ability to survive as an intracellular parasite. In contrast to other Leishmania genomes, two gene families were expanded in L. tarentolae, namely the leishmanolysin (GP63) and a gene related to the promastigote surface antigen (PSA31C). Overall, L. tarentolae appears to have a gene content more adapted to the insect stage rather than the mammalian one. This may partly explain its inability to replicate within mammalian macrophages and its suspected preferred life style as promastigote in the lizards.

Project description:BackgroundIn recent years the generation of antibodies by recombinant methods, such as phage display technology, has increased the speed by which antibodies can be obtained. However, in some cases when recombinant antibodies have to be validated, expression in E. coli can be problematic. This primarily occurs when codon usage or protein folding of specific antibody fragments is incompatible with the E. coli translation and folding machinery, for instance when recombinant antibody formats that include the Fc-region are needed. In such cases other expression systems can be used, including the protozoan parasite Leishmania tarentolae (L. tarentolae). This novel host for recombinant protein expression has recently shown promising properties for the expression of single-chain antibody fragments. We have utilised the L. tarentolae T7-TR system to achieve expression and secretion of two scFvs fused to the Fc-region of rabbit immunoglobulin G (IgG).ResultsBased on the commercial vector pLEXSY_IE-blecherry4 (Jena Bioscience; Cat. No. EGE-255), we generated a vector containing the Fragment Crystallisable (Fc) region of rabbit IgG allowing insertions of single chain antibody fragments (scFvs) in frame via Ncol/Notl cloning (pMJ_LEXSY-rFc). For the expression of rabbit Fc-fusion scFvs (scFv-rFc) we cloned two scFvs binding to human vimentin (LOB7 scFv) and murine laminin (A10 scFv) respectively, into the modified vector. The LOB7-rFc and A10-rFc fusions expressed at levels up to 2.95 mg/L in L. tarentolae T7-TR. Both scFv-rFcs were purified from the culture supernatants using protein A affinity chromatography. Additionally, we expressed three different scFvs without the rFc regions using a similar expression cassette, obtaining yields up to 1.00 mg/L.ConclusionsTo our knowledge, this is the first time that antibody fragments with intact Fc-region of immunoglobulin have been produced in L. tarentolae. Using the plasmid pMJ_LEXSY-rFc, L. tarentolae T7-TR can be applied as an efficient tool for expression of rFc fusion antibody fragments, allowing easy purification from the growth medium. This system provides an alternative in cases where antibody constructs express poorly in standard prokaryotic systems. Furthermore, in cases where bivalent Fc-fused antibody constructs are needed, using L. tarentolae for expression provides an efficient alternative to mammalian expression.

Project description:The genomic DNAs of strains JPCM5 and 263 of L. infantum, strains LV39 and Friedlin of L. major and strains Parrot-TarII and S125 of L. tarentolae were used in comparative genomic hybridizations to reveal the intra-species and inter-species gene content, and to validate L. tarentolae Parrot-TarII genome sequencing results. Leishmania (Sauroleishmania) tarentolae was first isolated in the lizard Tarentola mauritanica. This species is not known to be pathogenic to humans but is often used as a model organism for molecular analyses or protein overproduction. The Leishmania tarentolae Parrot-TarII strain genome sequence was resolved by high-throughput sequencing technologies. The L. tarentolae genome was first assembled de novo and then aligned against the reference L. major Friedlin genome to facilitate contig positioning and annotation, providing a 23-fold coverage of the genome. This is the first non-pathogenic to humans kinetoplastid protozoan genome to be described, and it provides an opportunity for comparison with the completed genomes of the pathogenic Leishmania species. A high synteny was observed in de novo assembled contigs between all sequenced Leishmania species. A number of limited chromosomal regions diverged between L. tarentolae and L. infantum, while remaining syntenic with L. major. Globally, over 90% of the L. tarentolae gene content was shared with the other Leishmania species. There were 250 L. major genes absent from L. tarentolae, and interestingly these missing genes were primarily expressed in the intracellular amastigote stage of the pathogenic parasites. This implies that L. tarentolae may have impaired ability to survive as an intracellular parasite. In contrast to other Leishmania genomes, two gene families were expanded in L. tarentolae, namely the leishmanolysin (GP63) and a gene related to the promastigote surface antigen (PSA31C). Overall, L. tarentolae appears to have a gene content more adapted to the insect stage rather than the mammalian one. This may partly explain its inability to replicate within mammalian macrophages and its suspected preferred life style as promastigote in the lizards. Six strains of three Leishmania species were hybridizated to 12 microarrays, each with four biological replicates (independent cultures). Supplementary file: Represents final results obtained after statistical analysis of all replicates.

Dataset Information

An intergenic G-rich region in Leishmania tarentolae kinetoplast maxicircle DNA is a pan-edited cryptogene encoding ribosomal protein S12.

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An intergenic G-rich region in Leishmania tarentolae kinetoplast maxicircle DNA is a pan-edited cryptogene encoding ribosomal protein S12.

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