Authors

N Kraeva¹; L Chmelová¹; A Saura¹; D Feder³; J Lukeš²; A Kostygov¹; V Yurchenko¹;  ¹ Life Science Research Centre, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czechia;  ² Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czechia;  ³ Universidade Federal Fluminense, Instituto de Biologia, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências e Biotecnologia, Niterói, Brazil

Discussion

In this work, we analyzed subcellular localization and function of catalase in trypanosomatids. We demonstrated that catalase in Leptomonas seymouri is present in the cytoplasm and a subset of glycosomes, and that its cytoplasmic retention is H₂O₂-dependent. The ablation of catalase in this parasite is not detrimental in vivo, while its overexpression resulted in a substantially higher parasite prevalence in the experimental infection of Dysdercus peruvianus. We propose that the capacity of studied flagellates to modulate the catalase activity in the midgut of its insect host facilitates their development and protects them from the oxidative damage at elevated temperatures.