Acyl-CoA oxidase ACOX-1 interacts with a peroxin PEX-5 to play roles in larval development of Haemonchus contortus

Hypobiosis (facultative developmental arrest) is the most important life-cycle adaptation ensuring survival of parasitic nematodes under adverse conditions. Little is known about such survival mechanisms, although ascarosides (ascarylose with fatty acid-derived side chains) have been reported to med...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PLoS pathogens 2021-07, Vol.17 (7), p.e1009767-e1009767
Main Authors: Shi, Hengzhi, Huang, Xiaocui, Chen, Xueqiu, Yang, Yi, Wang, Zhao, Yang, Yimin, Wu, Fei, Zhou, Jingru, Yao, Chaoqun, Ma, Guangxu, Du, Aifang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acyl-CoA oxidase
Amino acids
Binding sites
Biological oxidation (Metabolism)
Carrier proteins
Chromosomes
Cloning
Developmental stages
Dormancy
Embryogenesis
Fatty acids
Gene loci
Genes
Genetic aspects
Genomes
Growth factors
Haemonchus contortus
Hypodermis
Intestine
Larvae
Larval development
Mutation
Nematoda
Nematodes
Oxidases
Oxidation
Parasites
Parasitological research
Peroxin
Peroxisomes
Pheromones
Physiological aspects
Proteins
Survival
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Summary:Hypobiosis (facultative developmental arrest) is the most important life-cycle adaptation ensuring survival of parasitic nematodes under adverse conditions. Little is known about such survival mechanisms, although ascarosides (ascarylose with fatty acid-derived side chains) have been reported to mediate the formation of dauer larvae in the free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans . Here, we investigated the role of a key gene acox-1 , in the larval development of Haemonchus contortus , one of the most important parasitic nematodes that employ hypobiosis as a routine survival mechanism. In this parasite, acox-1 encodes three proteins (ACOXs) that all show a fatty acid oxidation activity in vitro and in vivo , and interact with a peroxin PEX-5 in peroxisomes. In particular, a peroxisomal targeting signal type1 (PTS1) sequence is required for ACOX-1 to be recognised by PEX-5. Analyses on developmental transcription and tissue expression show that acox-1 is predominantly expressed in the intestine and hypodermis of H . contortus , particularly in the early larval stages in the environment and the arrested fourth larval stage within host animals. Knockdown of acox-1 and pex-5 in parasitic H . contortus shows that these genes play essential roles in the post-embryonic larval development and likely in the facultative arrest of this species. A comprehensive understanding of these genes and the associated β-oxidation cycle of fatty acids should provide novel insights into the developmental regulation of parasitic nematodes, and into the discovery of novel interventions for species of socioeconomic importance.
ISSN:1553-7374
1553-7366
1553-7374
DOI:10.1371/journal.ppat.1009767