Converting <i>Blastocrithidia Nonstop</i>, a Trypanosomatid With Non‐Canonical Genetic Code, Into a Genetically‐Tractable Model

Blastocrithidia nonstop is a protist with a highly unusual nuclear genetic code, in which all three standard stop codons are reassigned to encode amino acids, with UAA also serving as a sole termination codon. In this study, we demonstrate that this parasitic flagellate is amenable to genetic manipulation, enabling gene ablation and protein tagging. Using preassembled Cas9 ribonucleoprotein complexes, we successfully disrupted and tagged the non-essential gene encoding catalase. These advances establish this single-celled eukaryote as a model organism for investigating the malleability and evolution of the genetic code in eukaryotes.

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Publication Details

Journal
Molecular Microbiology
Published
2025-04-09
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/mmi.15365
Citations
3
Primary Topic
RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
2.42

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article

Converting Blastocrithidia Nonstop, a Trypanosomatid With Non‐Canonical Genetic Code, Into a Genetically‐Tractable Model

Jiří Pergner, Andreu Saura, Natalya Kraeva, Zdeněk Paris et al.
3 citations
Molecular Microbiology
RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms
2.42
article

Converting Blastocrithidia Nonstop, a Trypanosomatid With Non‐Canonical Genetic Code, Into a Genetically‐Tractable Model

Jiří Pergner, Andreu Saura, Natalya Kraeva, Zdeněk Paris, Claretta Bianchi, Vyacheslav Yurchenko, Alexei Yu. Kostygov, Anzhelika Butenko, Kristína Záhonová, Julius Lukeš, Arnau Galan, Fadel Fakih
article en
3 citations

Abstract

Blastocrithidia nonstop is a protist with a highly unusual nuclear genetic code, in which all three standard stop codons are reassigned to encode amino acids, with UAA also serving as a sole termination codon. In this study, we demonstrate that this parasitic flagellate is amenable to genetic manipulation, enabling gene ablation and protein tagging. Using preassembled Cas9 ribonucleoprotein complexes, we successfully disrupted and tagged the non-essential gene encoding catalase. These advances establish this single-celled eukaryote as a model organism for investigating the malleability and evolution of the genetic code in eukaryotes.

Molecular MicrobiologyVol. 123(6)
University of Alberta (CA), University of Ostrava (CZ), Charles University (CZ), Zoological Institute (RU), University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice (CZ), Institute of Parasitology (CZ), Czech Academy of Sciences, Biology Centre (CZ)
Grantová Agentura České Republiky, Ministry of Environment, Ministerstvo Zemědělství, European Regional Development Fund
Life in Land
Openalex Percentile: Top 12%
RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms
2.42
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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