Phylogenetic Studies on tRNA Dependent Amidotransferase from Plasmodium Falciparum

Malaria remains the major concern in most of the developing countries. It is caused by the protozoan, Plasmodium, which is a member of apicomplexan. This family is characterized by the presence of plastid like structure known as apicoplast. Proteins and metabolic pathways of plastid are more like bacterial one. Protein tRNA-dependent amidotransferase (PfAdT) is one of the many proteins encoded by nuclear genome and targeted towards apicoplast. In this study, we have performed the phylogenetic analysis of tRNA-dependent amidotransferase with respect to other species from all the three domains of life. Results showed the closeness of PfAdT to the archaeal and human mitochondrial homolog. We hope that this observation would be valuable in defining evolutionary history of parasite and also in designing new chemotherapy against malaria parasite.