ORGINAL ARTICLES

CRISPR/Cas9-based localization and functional analysis of Toxoplasma gondii putative protein TGGT1_310420

  • Yong-gen JIA ,
  • Ai-xia YAN ,
  • Min-jun HUANG ,
  • Yang ZOU ,
  • Jun-chao GU
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  • Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Tropical Medicine Research Institute
    Beijing Key Laboratory for Prevention and Treatment of Tropical Disease, Beijing, 100050, China

Received date: 2018-12-29

  Online published: 2019-05-13

Supported by

Supported by Beijing Natural Science Foundation (No. 7182023);and Scientific Research Foundation of Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University (No. yyqdkt2017-3)

Abstract

Objective To characterize the function and localization of a putative protein TGGT1_310420 expressed on tachyzoite of Toxoplasma gondii. Methods The single guide RNA (sgRNA) targeting TGGT1_310420 was designed online. CRISPR/Cas9 construct targeting GGT1_310420 was obtained by mutating sgRNA of TgUPRT on pSAG1::CAS9-GFP-U6::sgUPRT. The knockout of TGGT1_310420 gene was performed through tagging the mCherry-Ty_HXGPRT sequence after the first 60 nt coding sequences of the endogenous copy using CRISPR/Cas9 genome-editing strategy. The correct insert was confirmed by PCR and DNA sequencing. The expressed fusion protein was detected by SDS-PAGE and Western blotting analysis, and its subcellular localization was determined by immunofluorescence microscopy. The phenotype of the knockout parasites was examined by a plaque assay. Results The CRISPR/Cas9 construct targeting TGGT1_310420 was successfully constructed and confirmed by sequencing. PCR analysis confirmed the integration of the mCherry-Ty_HXGPRT sequence into the correct locus and Western blotting assay detected a single protein band with an apparent relative molecular weight of 36 000. Immunofluorescent assay demonstrated that the first 20 amino acids of TGGT1_310420 fused to mCherry-Ty_HXGPRT was co-localized with T. gondii gliding associated protein 45(TgGAP45)to the parasite’s pellicle. Knockout of TGGT1_310420 gene revealed no measurable alteration in tachyzoites. Conclusion The first 20 amino acids of TGGT1_310420 are sufficient for pellicle targeting and the knockout of TGGT1_310420 did not change the phenotype of T. gomdii tachyzoite.

Cite this article

Yong-gen JIA , Ai-xia YAN , Min-jun HUANG , Yang ZOU , Jun-chao GU . CRISPR/Cas9-based localization and functional analysis of Toxoplasma gondii putative protein TGGT1_310420[J]. CHINESE JOURNAL OF PARASITOLOGY AND PARASITIC DISEASES, 2019 , 37(2) : 150 -155 . DOI: 10.12140/j.issn.1000-7423.2019.02.006

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