Identification, biochemical characterization, and in-vivo expression of the intracellular invertase BfrA from the pathogenic parasite Leishmania major

- A sucrose-metabolizing invertase from the protozoan pathogen Leishmania major was identified.
- RT-PCR experiments demonstrated that this enzyme was expressed in other Leishmania species.
- The expression is dependent on the parasite life stage (overexpressed in promastigotes).
- The cloned and expressed recombinant enzyme has a low affinity for sucrose yet comparable to other invertases.
- These results, coupled to molecular modeling and sequence analysis, suggest that this invertase is an intracellular enzyme.