This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Adam, R. D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Adam, R. D.
Right arrowPubmed/NCBI databases
Medline Plus Health Information
*Giardia Infections

Next Article 

Clinical Microbiology Reviews, July 2001, p. 447-475, Vol. 14, No. 3
0893-8512/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/CMR.14.3.447-475.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Biology of Giardia lamblia

Rodney D. Adam*

Departments of Medicine and of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, Arizona

Giardia lamblia is a common cause of diarrhea in humans and other mammals throughout the world. It can be distinguished from other Giardia species by light or electron microscopy. The two major genotypes of G. lamblia that infect humans are so different genetically and biologically that they may warrant separate species or subspecies designations. Trophozoites have nuclei and a well-developed cytoskeleton but lack mitochondria, peroxisomes, and the components of oxidative phosphorylation. They have an endomembrane system with at least some characteristics of the Golgi complex and encoplasmic reticulum, which becomes more extensive in encysting organisms. The primitive nature of the organelles and metabolism, as well as small-subunit rRNA phylogeny, has led to the proposal that Giardia spp. are among the most primitive eukaryotes. G. lamblia probably has a ploidy of 4 and a genome size of approximately 10 to 12 Mb divided among five chromosomes. Most genes have short 5' and 3' untranslated regions and promoter regions that are near the initiation codon. Trophozoites exhibit antigenic variation of an extensive repertoire of cysteine-rich variant-specific surface proteins. Expression is allele specific, and changes in expression from one vsp gene to another have not been associated with sequence alterations or gene rearrangements. The Giardia genome project promises to greatly increase our understanding of this interesting and enigmatic organism.

* Mailing address: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Arizona College of Medicine, 1501 N. Campbell, Tucson, AZ 85724-5049. Phone: (520) 626-6430. Fax: (520) 626-2100. E-mail: adamr{at}u.arizona.edu.

Clinical Microbiology Reviews, July 2001, p. 447-475, Vol. 14, No. 3
0893-8512/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/CMR.14.3.447-475.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Abodeely, M., DuBois, K. N., Hehl, A., Stefanic, S., Sajid, M., deSouza, W., Attias, M., Engel, J. C., Hsieh, I., Fetter, R. D., McKerrow, J. H. (2009). A Contiguous Compartment Functions as Endoplasmic Reticulum and Endosome/Lysosome in Giardia lamblia. Eukaryot Cell 8: 1665-1676 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Raabe, C. A., Sanchez, C. P., Randau, G., Robeck, T., Skryabin, B. V., Chinni, S. V., Kube, M., Reinhardt, R., Ng, G. H., Manickam, R., Kuryshev, V. Y., Lanzer, M., Brosius, J., Tang, T. H., Rozhdestvensky, T. S. (2009). A global view of the nonprotein-coding transcriptome in Plasmodium falciparum. Nucleic Acids Res 0: gkp895v1-gkp895 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Singh, A., Janaki, L., Petri, W. A. Jr, Houpt, E. R. (2009). Giardia intestinalis Assemblages A and B Infections in Nepal. Am J Trop Med Hyg 81: 538-539 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Dagley, M. J., Dolezal, P., Likic, V. A., Smid, O., Purcell, A. W., Buchanan, S. K., Tachezy, J., Lithgow, T. (2009). The Protein Import Channel in the Outer Mitosomal Membrane of Giardia intestinalis. Mol Biol Evol 26: 1941-1947 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Stefanic, S., Morf, L., Kulangara, C., Regos, A., Sonda, S., Schraner, E., Spycher, C., Wild, P., Hehl, A. B. (2009). Neogenesis and maturation of transient Golgi-like cisternae in a simple eukaryote. J. Cell Sci. 122: 2846-2856 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Pan, Y.-J., Cho, C.-C., Kao, Y.-Y., Sun, C.-H. (2009). A Novel WRKY-like Protein Involved in Transcriptional Activation of Cyst Wall Protein Genes in Giardia lamblia. J. Biol. Chem. 284: 17975-17988 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Carpenter, M. L., Cande, W. Z. (2009). Using Morpholinos for Gene Knockdown in Giardia intestinalis. Eukaryot Cell 8: 916-919 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Pal, D., Banerjee, S., Cui, J., Schwartz, A., Ghosh, S. K., Samuelson, J. (2009). Giardia, Entamoeba, and Trichomonas Enzymes Activate Metronidazole (Nitroreductases) and Inactivate Metronidazole (Nitroimidazole Reductases). Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 53: 458-464 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Elias, E. V., Quiroga, R., Gottig, N., Nakanishi, H., Nash, T. E., Neiman, A., Lujan, H. D. (2008). Characterization of SNAREs Determines the Absence of a Typical Golgi Apparatus in the Ancient Eukaryote Giardia lamblia. J. Biol. Chem. 283: 35996-36010 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Huang, Y.-C., Su, L.-H., Lee, G. A., Chiu, P.-W., Cho, C.-C., Wu, J.-Y., Sun, C.-H. (2008). Regulation of Cyst Wall Protein Promoters by Myb2 in Giardia lamblia. J. Biol. Chem. 283: 31021-31029 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Li, Y., Luo, J., Zhou, H., Liao, J.-Y., Ma, L.-M., Chen, Y.-Q., Qu, L.-H. (2008). Stress-induced tRNA-derived RNAs: a novel class of small RNAs in the primitive eukaryote Giardia lamblia. Nucleic Acids Res 36: 6048-6055 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ratner, D. M., Cui, J., Steffen, M., Moore, L. L., Robbins, P. W., Samuelson, J. (2008). Changes in the N-Glycome, Glycoproteins with Asn-Linked Glycans, of Giardia lamblia with Differentiation from Trophozoites to Cysts. Eukaryot Cell 7: 1930-1940 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Kim, K.-H., Chang, H.-W., Nam, Y.-D., Roh, S. W., Kim, M.-S., Sung, Y., Jeon, C. O., Oh, H.-M., Bae, J.-W. (2008). Amplification of Uncultured Single-Stranded DNA Viruses from Rice Paddy Soil. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 5975-5985 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Touz, M. C., Ropolo, A. S., Rivero, M. R., Vranych, C. V., Conrad, J. T., Svard, S. G., Nash, T. E. (2008). Arginine deiminase has multiple regulatory roles in the biology of Giardia lamblia. J. Cell Sci. 121: 2930-2938 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Hernandez, Y., Shpak, M., Duarte, T. T., Mendez, T. L., Maldonado, R. A., Roychowdhury, S., Rodrigues, M. L., Das, S. (2008). Novel Role of Sphingolipid Synthesis Genes in Regulating Giardial Encystation. Infect. Immun. 76: 2939-2949 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Hoeng, J. C., Dawson, S. C., House, S. A., Sagolla, M. S., Pham, J. K., Mancuso, J. J., Lowe, J., Cande, W. Z. (2008). High-Resolution Crystal Structure and In Vivo Function of a Kinesin-2 Homologue in Giardia intestinalis. Mol. Biol. Cell 19: 3124-3137 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • DuBois, K. N., Abodeely, M., Sakanari, J., Craik, C. S., Lee, M., McKerrow, J. H., Sajid, M. (2008). Identification of the Major Cysteine Protease of Giardia and Its Role in Encystation. J. Biol. Chem. 283: 18024-18031 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Poxleitner, M. K., Dawson, S. C., Cande, W. Z. (2008). Cell Cycle Synchrony in Giardia intestinalis Cultures Achieved by Using Nocodazole and Aphidicolin. Eukaryot Cell 7: 569-574 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Poxleitner, M. K., Carpenter, M. L., Mancuso, J. J., Wang, C.-J. R., Dawson, S. C., Cande, W. Z. (2008). Evidence for Karyogamy and Exchange of Genetic Material in the Binucleate Intestinal Parasite Giardia intestinalis. Science 319: 1530-1533 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Dawson, S. C., Sagolla, M. S., Mancuso, J. J., Woessner, D. J., House, S. A., Fritz-Laylin, L., Cande, W. Z. (2007). Kinesin-13 Regulates Flagellar, Interphase, and Mitotic Microtubule Dynamics in Giardia intestinalis. Eukaryot Cell 6: 2354-2364 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Teodorovic, S., Braverman, J. M., Elmendorf, H. G. (2007). Unusually Low Levels of Genetic Variation among Giardia lamblia Isolates. Eukaryot Cell 6: 1421-1430 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Teodorovic, S., Walls, C. D., Elmendorf, H. G. (2007). Bidirectional transcription is an inherent feature of Giardia lamblia promoters and contributes to an abundance of sterile antisense transcripts throughout the genome. Nucleic Acids Res 35: 2544-2553 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Wang, C.-H., Su, L.-H., Sun, C.-H. (2007). A Novel ARID/Bright-like Protein Involved in Transcriptional Activation of Cyst Wall Protein 1 Gene in Giardia lamblia. J. Biol. Chem. 282: 8905-8914 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Galkin, A., Kulakova, L., Melamud, E., Li, L., Wu, C., Mariano, P., Dunaway-Mariano, D., Nash, T. E., Herzberg, O. (2007). Characterization, Kinetics, and Crystal Structures of Fructose-1,6-bisphosphate Aldolase from the Human Parasite, Giardia lamblia. J. Biol. Chem. 282: 4859-4867 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ali, V., Nozaki, T. (2007). Current Therapeutics, Their Problems, and Sulfur-Containing-Amino-Acid Metabolism as a Novel Target against Infections by "Amitochondriate" Protozoan Parasites. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 20: 164-187 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Sagolla, M. S., Dawson, S. C., Mancuso, J. J., Cande, W. Z. (2006). Three-dimensional analysis of mitosis and cytokinesis in the binucleate parasite Giardia intestinalis. J. Cell Sci. 119: 4889-4900 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Davids, B. J., Palm, J. E. D., Housley, M. P., Smith, J. R., Andersen, Y. S., Martin, M. G., Hendrickson, B. A., Johansen, F.-E., Svard, S. G., Gillin, F. D., Eckmann, L. (2006). Polymeric Immunoglobulin Receptor in Intestinal Immune Defense against the Lumen-Dwelling Protozoan Parasite Giardia. J. Immunol. 177: 6281-6290 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Gottig, N., Elias, E. V., Quiroga, R., Nores, M. J., Solari, A. J., Touz, M. C., Lujan, H. D. (2006). Active and Passive Mechanisms Drive Secretory Granule Biogenesis during Differentiation of the Intestinal Parasite Giardia lamblia. J. Biol. Chem. 281: 18156-18166 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Nohynkova, E., Tumova, P., Kulda, J. (2006). Cell Division of Giardia intestinalis: Flagellar Developmental Cycle Involves Transformation and Exchange of Flagella between Mastigonts of a Diplomonad Cell.. Eukaryot Cell 5: 753-761 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Hansen, W. R., Tulyathan, O., Dawson, S. C., Cande, W. Z., Fletcher, D. A. (2006). Giardia lamblia Attachment Force Is Insensitive to Surface Treatments.. Eukaryot Cell 5: 781-783 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Stefanic, S., Palm, D., Svard, S. G., Hehl, A. B. (2006). Organelle Proteomics Reveals Cargo Maturation Mechanisms Associated with Golgi-like Encystation Vesicles in the Early-diverged Protozoan Giardia lamblia. J. Biol. Chem. 281: 7595-7604 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Lynch, M. (2006). The Origins of Eukaryotic Gene Structure. Mol Biol Evol 23: 450-468 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Li, E., Zhou, P., Singer, S. M. (2006). Neuronal Nitric Oxide Synthase Is Necessary for Elimination of Giardia lamblia Infections in Mice. J. Immunol. 176: 516-521 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Roxstrom-Lindquist, K., Ringqvist, E., Palm, D., Svard, S. (2005). Giardia lamblia-Induced Changes in Gene Expression in Differentiated Caco-2 Human Intestinal Epithelial Cells. Infect. Immun. 73: 8204-8208 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Bertrand, I., Albertini, L., Schwartzbrod, J. (2005). Comparison of Two Target Genes for Detection and Genotyping of Giardia lamblia in Human Feces by PCR and PCR-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism. J. Clin. Microbiol. 43: 5940-5944 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Mok, M. T. S., Edwards, M. R. (2005). Kinetic and Physical Characterization of the Inducible UDP-N-acetylglucosamine Pyrophosphorylase from Giardia intestinalis. J. Biol. Chem. 280: 39363-39372 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Regoes, A., Zourmpanou, D., Leon-Avila, G., van der Giezen, M., Tovar, J., Hehl, A. B. (2005). Protein Import, Replication, and Inheritance of a Vestigial Mitochondrion. J. Biol. Chem. 280: 30557-30563 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Dolezal, P., Smid, O., Rada, P., Zubacova, Z., Bursac, D., Sutak, R., Nebesarova, J., Lithgow, T., Tachezy, J. (2005). Giardia mitosomes and trichomonad hydrogenosomes share a common mode of protein targeting. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102: 10924-10929 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ropolo, A. S., Saura, A., Carranza, P. G., Lujan, H. D. (2005). Identification of Variant-Specific Surface Proteins in Giardia muris Trophozoites. Infect. Immun. 73: 5208-5211 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Li, L., Wang, C. C. (2005). Identification in the Ancient Protist Giardia lamblia of Two Eukaryotic Translation Initiation Factor 4E Homologues with Distinctive Functions. Eukaryot Cell 4: 948-959 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Lynch, M., Scofield, D. G., Hong, X. (2005). The Evolution of Transcription-Initiation Sites. Mol Biol Evol 22: 1137-1146 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Xin, D.-D., Wen, J.-F., He, D., Lu, S.-Q. (2005). Identification of a Giardia krr1 Homolog Gene and the Secondarily Anucleolate Condition of Giaridia lamblia. Mol Biol Evol 22: 391-394 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Samuelson, J., Banerjee, S., Magnelli, P., Cui, J., Kelleher, D. J., Gilmore, R., Robbins, P. W. (2005). The diversity of dolichol-linked precursors to Asn-linked glycans likely results from secondary loss of sets of glycosyltransferases. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102: 1548-1553 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Arguello-Garcia, R., Cruz-Soto, M., Romero-Montoya, L., Ortega-Pierres, G. (2004). Variability and variation in drug susceptibility among Giardia duodenalis isolates and clones exposed to 5-nitroimidazoles and benzimidazoles in vitro. J Antimicrob Chemother 54: 711-721 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Grimson, A., O'Connor, S., Newman, C. L., Anderson, P. (2004). SMG-1 Is a Phosphatidylinositol Kinase-Related Protein Kinase Required for Nonsense-Mediated mRNA Decay in Caenorhabditis elegans. Mol. Cell. Biol. 24: 7483-7490 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Best, A. A., Morrison, H. G., McArthur, A. G., Sogin, M. L., Olsen, G. J. (2004). Evolution of Eukaryotic Transcription: Insights From the Genome of Giardia lamblia. Genome Res 14: 1537-1547 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Genschel, U. (2004). Coenzyme A Biosynthesis: Reconstruction of the Pathway in Archaea and an Evolutionary Scenario Based on Comparative Genomics. Mol Biol Evol 21: 1242-1251 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Touz, M. C., Kulakova, L., Nash, T. E. (2004). Adaptor Protein Complex 1 Mediates the Transport of Lysosomal Proteins from a Golgi-like Organelle to Peripheral Vacuoles in the Primitive Eukaryote Giardia lamblia. Mol. Biol. Cell 15: 3053-3060 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Li, L., Wang, C. C. (2004). Capped mRNA with a Single Nucleotide Leader Is Optimally Translated in a Primitive Eukaryote, Giardia lamblia. J. Biol. Chem. 279: 14656-14664 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Garlapati, S., Wang, C. C. (2004). Identification of a Novel Internal Ribosome Entry Site in Giardiavirus That Extends to Both Sides of the Initiation Codon. J. Biol. Chem. 279: 3389-3397 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Jimenez, J. C., Fontaine, J., Grzych, J.-M., Dei-Cas, E., Capron, M. (2004). Systemic and Mucosal Responses to Oral Administration of Excretory and Secretory Antigens from Giardia intestinalis. CVI 11: 152-160 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Wickstead, B., Ersfeld, K., Gull, K. (2003). Repetitive Elements in Genomes of Parasitic Protozoa. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 67: 360-375 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Zhang, N., Harrex, A. L., Holland, B. R., Fenton, L. E., Cannon, R. D., Schmid, J. (2003). Sixty Alleles of the ALS7 Open Reading Frame in Candida albicans: ALS7 Is a Hypermutable Contingency Locus. Genome Res 13: 2005-2017 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Satish, S., Bakre, A. A., Bhattacharya, S., Bhattacharya, A. (2003). Stress-Dependent Expression of a Polymorphic, Charged Antigen in the Protozoan Parasite Entamoeba histolytica. Infect. Immun. 71: 4472-4486 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Seshadri, V., McArthur, A. G., Sogin, M. L., Adam, R. D. (2003). Giardia lamblia RNA Polymerase II: AMANITIN-RESISTANT TRANSCRIPTION. J. Biol. Chem. 278: 27804-27810 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Marti, M., Regos, A., Li, Y., Schraner, E. M., Wild, P., Muller, N., Knopf, L. G., Hehl, A. B. (2003). An Ancestral Secretory Apparatus in the Protozoan Parasite Giardia intestinalis. J. Biol. Chem. 278: 24837-24848 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Caccio, S. M., De Giacomo, M., Aulicino, F. A., Pozio, E. (2003). Giardia Cysts in Wastewater Treatment Plants in Italy. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69: 3393-3398 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Zhou, P., Li, E., Zhu, N., Robertson, J., Nash, T., Singer, S. M. (2003). Role of Interleukin-6 in the Control of Acute and Chronic Giardia lamblia Infections in Mice. Infect. Immun. 71: 1566-1568 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Touz, M. C., Lujan, H. D., Hayes, S. F., Nash, T. E. (2003). Sorting of Encystation-specific Cysteine Protease to Lysosome-like Peripheral Vacuoles in Giardia lamblia Requires a Conserved Tyrosine-based Motif. J. Biol. Chem. 278: 6420-6426 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Reiner, D. S., Hetsko, M. L., Meszaros, J. G., Sun, C.-H., Morrison, H. G., Brunton, L. L., Gillin, F. D. (2003). Calcium Signaling in Excystation of the Early Diverging Eukaryote, Giardia lamblia. J. Biol. Chem. 278: 2533-2540 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ellis, J. G. IV, Davila, M., Chakrabarti, R. (2003). Potential Involvement of Extracellular Signal-regulated Kinase 1 and 2 in Encystation of a Primitive Eukaryote, Giardia lamblia. STAGE-SPECIFIC ACTIVATION AND INTRACELLULAR LOCALIZATION. J. Biol. Chem. 278: 1936-1945 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Szkodowska, A., Muller, M. C. M., Linke, C., Scholze, H. (2002). Annexin XXI (ANX21) of Giardia lamblia Has Sequence Motifs Uniquely Shared by Giardial Annexins and Is Specifically Localized in the Flagella. J. Biol. Chem. 277: 25703-25706 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Nixon, J. E. J., Wang, A., Field, J., Morrison, H. G., McArthur, A. G., Sogin, M. L., Loftus, B. J., Samuelson, J. (2002). Evidence for Lateral Transfer of Genes Encoding Ferredoxins, Nitroreductases, NADH Oxidase, and Alcohol Dehydrogenase 3 from Anaerobic Prokaryotes to Giardialamblia and Entamoebahistolytica. Eukaryot Cell 1: 181-190 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Yu, L. Z., Birky, C. W. Jr., Adam, R. D. (2002). The Two Nuclei of Giardia Each Have Complete Copies of the Genome and Are Partitioned Equationally at Cytokinesis. Eukaryot Cell 1: 191-199 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Johnson, P. J. (2002). Spliceosomal introns in a deep-branching eukaryote: The splice of life. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99: 3359-3361 [Full Text]  
  • Nixon, J. E. J., Wang, A., Morrison, H. G., McArthur, A. G., Sogin, M. L., Loftus, B. J., Samuelson, J. (2002). From the Cover: A spliceosomal intron in Giardialamblia. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99: 3701-3705 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Pardue, M.-L., DeBaryshe, P. G., Lowenhaupt, K. (2001). Another protozoan contributes to understanding telomeres and transposable elements. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 98: 14195-14197 [Full Text]  
  • Arkhipova, I. R., Morrison, H. G. (2001). From the Cover: Three retrotransposon families in the genome of Giardia lamblia: Two telomeric, one dead. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 98: 14497-14502 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»