Identification of Pif1 helicases with novel accessory domains in various amoebae

Abstract

Pif1 helicases are a conserved family of eukaryotic proteins involved in the maintenance of both nuclear and mitochondrial DNA. These enzymes possess a number of known and putative functions, which facilitate overall genome integrity. Here we have identified multiple subtypes of Pif1 proteins in various pathogenic and non-pathogenic amoeboid species which possess additional domains not present in other Pif1 helicases. These helicases each possess one of five different accessory domains, which have roles in ubiquitination, origin of DNA replication recognition or single-stranded nucleic acid binding activity. Using a robust phylogenetic approach we examined each Pif1 class, which revealed tha..