Trichomonas vaginalis: Identification of a triacylglycerol acylhydrolase

This work describes the identification of a triacylglycerol lipase named TVLip directly onto blood-LB-agar plates by hemolytic screening of a Trichomonas vaginalis cDNA expression library. Sharing significant similarity in the primary sequence with other lipases, the theoretical 3D structure of the TVLip was resolved. The structure reveals the predictive conserved characteristics of other lipases from EC3.1.1.3 group, although presenting one aminoacid change in the catalytic triad Ser-His-Asp. Finally, analysis of Northern blot indicates that the expression of the TVLip gene is up-regulated by iron.