Further findings on the composition of the ventral disk

1D- and 2D-PAGE and mass spectrometry have been used to identify a Giardia genome that is associated with the ventral disk, adding to the already founded tubulin and giardin proteins.

Giardia is a unicellular intestinal parasite that infects millions of people worldwide each year .The function of the Giardia genome was previously unknown in the ventral disk, and this new research has made significant advances in by identifying the proteins annotated in the Giardia genome. The study successfully identified and confirmed 18 new ventral disk proteins using new genomic methods for analysing protein composition.  The research has been published in Novel Structural Components of the Ventral Disc and Lateral Crest in Giardia intestinalis.

The research methods used in the study were found to be far more efficient compared to previously published protocols. The ventral disk shown in the work was isolated precisely and effectively, using 1D- and 2D-PAGE and mass spectrometry.

This work may assist in future studies that test the elucidation of the mechanisms involved in the attachment of the protozoan to epithelial cells.

Posted by Fiona Griffiths