The import and function of diatom and plant frataxins in the mitochondrion of Trypanosoma brucei

Frataxin is a conserved mitochondrial protein, almost universally present in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, where it is implicated in Fe–S cluster assembly and several other processes. Here we show that frataxins from the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana and the plant Arabidopsis thaliana are efficiently targeted and processed in the mitochondrion of the evolutionary distant excavate kinetoplastid flagellate Trypanosoma brucei. Moreover, both heterologous frataxins are able to rescue a lethal deficiency for T. brucei frataxin.