Silencing of tachyzoite enolase 2 alters nuclear targeting of bradyzoite enolase 1 in Toxoplasma gondii

In Toxoplasma gondii, an intracellular parasite of the phylum Apicomplexa, two isoforms of enolase (ENO1 and ENO2) are expressed in stage-specific manner. ENO2 is expressed only in rapidly growing tachyzoites, while ENO1 is in slowly growing bradyzoites. Interestingly, the localization of ENO1 and ENO2 in the nuclear compartment has suggested possible roles of the proteins in gene regulation and/or cell cycle. To understand the physiological role of ENO2 in T. gondii, the expression of ENO2 was silenced using a homologous gene silencing procedure. The introduction or expression of ENO2 dsRNA successfully silenced the expression of ENO2 at the levels of transcripts and proteins. While there was no change in the growth rate of both tachyzoites and bradyzoites, a subtle phenotypic change was observed in the localization of the ENO1 gene product in the bradyzoite stage.