pathogens Article N-Glycosylation in Piroplasmids: Diversity within Simplicity Monica Florin-Christensen 1,2,*,† , Anabel E. Rodriguez 1,† , Carlos E. Suárez 3,4 , Massaro W. Ueti 3,4, Fernando O. Delgado 1, Ignacio Echaide 5 and Leonhard Schnittger 1,2 1 Instituto de Patobiología Veterinaria (INTA-CONICET), CICVyA, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA), Hurlingham 1686, Argentina;
[email protected] (A.E.R.);
[email protected] (F.O.D.);
[email protected] (L.S.) 2 Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires C1033AAJ, Argentina 3 Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99163, USA;
[email protected] (C.E.S.);
[email protected] (M.W.U.) 4 Animal Disease Research Unit, United States Department of Agricultural-Agricultural Research Service, Pullman, WA 99163, USA 5 Estación Experimental Agrícola INTA-Rafaela, Santa Fe, Provincia de Buenos Aires S2300, Argentina;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +54-11-4621-1289 (ext. 3184) † These authors equally contributed to the manuscript. Abstract: N-glycosylation has remained mostly unexplored in Piroplasmida, an order of tick- transmitted pathogens of veterinary and medical relevance. Analysis of 11 piroplasmid genomes revealed three distinct scenarios regarding N-glycosylation: Babesia sensu stricto (s.s.) species add one or two N-acetylglucosamine (NAcGlc) molecules to proteins; Theileria equi and Cytauxzoon felis add (NAcGlc)2-mannose, while B. microti and Theileria s.s. synthesize dolichol-P-P-NAcGlc and dolichol-P-P-(NAcGlc)2 without subsequent transfer to proteins.