On 2013 Oct 21, Gary Ward commented:

This is a seminal paper in the field, for two reasons:

1) It reported the development of a new, Tet-transactivator-based system for controlling gene expression in T. gondii. This system has since been widely adopted as a way to make conditional knockout parasites and is particularly useful for studying the function of essential genes in this haploid organism. For a powerful extension of this system based on promoter replacement, see Sheiner et al PLOS Pathogens 7 (2011) e1002392.

2) In the first application of the new system, the authors demonstrated directly the importance of the parasite’s Class XIV myosin, TgMyoA, for gliding motility, host cell invasion and host cell egress. This observation led to a great deal of subsequent work on the myosin motor complex and its role in the biology of T. gondii and other apicomplexan parasites.

Posted by Gary Ward on behalf of the University of Vermont Toxoplasma Journal Club (UVM ToxoJC); members include Jenna Foderaro, Anne Kelson, Shruthi Krishnamurthy, Jacqueline Leung, Pramod Rompikuntal, Luke Tilley & Gary Ward

On 2013 Oct 21, Gary Ward commented:

This is a seminal paper in the field, for two reasons:

1) It reported the development of a new, Tet-transactivator-based system for controlling gene expression in T. gondii. This system has since been widely adopted as a way to make conditional knockout parasites and is particularly useful for studying the function of essential genes in this haploid organism. For a powerful extension of this system based on promoter replacement, see Sheiner et al PLOS Pathogens 7 (2011) e1002392.

2) In the first application of the new system, the authors demonstrated directly the importance of the parasite’s Class XIV myosin, TgMyoA, for gliding motility, host cell invasion and host cell egress. This observation led to a great deal of subsequent work on the myosin motor complex and its role in the biology of T. gondii and other apicomplexan parasites.

Posted by Gary Ward on behalf of the University of Vermont Toxoplasma Journal Club (UVM ToxoJC); members include Jenna Foderaro, Anne Kelson, Shruthi Krishnamurthy, Jacqueline Leung, Pramod Rompikuntal, Luke Tilley & Gary Ward