Dr. Shaojun Long

Contact information

• Phone number: +44 (0)191 222 3481
• e-mail adress: shaojun.long (at) ncl.ac.uk

Work description

I carried out my PhD study at University of South Bohemia and Institute of Parasitology, Biological Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic, where I focused on mitochondrial Fe-S cluster assembly in the parasitic protist Trypanosoma brucei. T. brucei is an excellent model organism for studying mitochondrial biology, as the mitochondrion undergoes tremendous changes from one life stage (in mamainlian blood) to another (in Tsetse fly midgut). A major accomplishment of my PhD work was the comprehensive analysis of Fe-S cluster assembly in T. brucei, providing detailed insights into the function of key proteins associated with this important pathway in this organism and establishing new techniques in the Czech lab.

During my time as a research associate I will focus on exploring the fundamental biology of microsporidian mitosomes. Only 22 mitochondrial proteins were identified from the microsporidian E. cuniculi genome, by contrast to 800-1000 proteins in yeast, so it is likely that the metabolism of microsporidian mitosomes, their transport functions and role(s) in the parasite cell are severely reduced. At present a role in Fe-S cluster assembly is the only biosynthetic function identified for microsporidian mitosomes, and even here there are major gaps in our knowledge of how Fe-S cluster assembly actually works. I will be trying to answer these questions using molecular cellular biology, proteomics and bioinformatics.

Shaojun's publications

• Tyc J, Long S, Jirku M, Lukes J. The YCF45 protein, usually associated with plastids, is targeted to the mitochondrion of Trypanosoma brucei. Mol. Biochem. Parasitol. vol 173 p. 43-47 (2010). pubmed
• Wohlgamuth-Benedum JM, Rubio MAT, Paris Z, Long S, Poliak P, Lukes J, Alfonzo JD. Thiolation controls cytoplasmic tRNA stability and acts as a negative determinant for tRNA editing in mitochondria. J. Biol. Chem. vol 284 p. 23947-23953 (2009). pubmed
• Long S, Jirku M, Ayala FJ, Lukes J. Mitochondrial localization of human frataxin is necessary but processing is not, for rescuing frataxin deficiency in Trypanosoma brucei. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. vol 105 p. 13468-13473 (2008). pubmed
• Long S, Jirku M, Mach J, Ginger ML, Sutak R, Richardson D, Tachezy J, Lukes J. Ancestral roles of eukaryotic frataxin: mitochondrial frataxin function and heterologous expression of hydrogenosomal Trichomonas homologues in trypanosomes. Mol. Microbiol.. vol 69 p. 94-109 (2008). pubmed
• Long S, Vavrova Z, Lukes J. The import and function of diatom and plant frataxins in the mitochondrion of Trypanosoma brucei. Mol. Biochem. Parasitol.. vol 162 p. 100-104 (2008). pubmed