Pantothenate biosynthesis is critical for the establishment of chronic infection by the neurotropic parasite Toxoplasma gondii

Coenzyme A (CoA) is an essential and highly versatile molecule acting in metabolism, post-translational modification, and regulation of gene expression. While all organisms synthesize CoA, many, including humans, are unable to produce its precursor, pantothenate (Pan, vitamin B5). Intriguingly, like most plants, fungi and bacteria, parasites of the coccidian subgroup of Apicomplexa, including the human and animal pathogen Toxoplasma gondii, possess all the enzymes required for de novo synthesis of Pan. Here, the importance of CoA and Pan biosynthesis was scrutinized in the acute and chronic stages of T. gondii infection. Genetic, biochemical and metabolomic approaches revealed that all steps of CoA synthesis are active and essential in T. gondii tachyzoites. Instead, although enzymatic activity was demonstrated in vitro, Pan biosynthesis proved to be inactive and dispensable in tachyzoites, highlighting the capacity of the parasite to salvage Pan from the host. This dataset contains the transcriptomics data generated for both the host and parasite (under Pan depletion) to understand the underlying transcript changes and the source of the residual Pan for parasite survival.

辅酶A（Coenzyme A, CoA）是一类不可或缺且功能极为多样的分子，参与代谢过程、翻译后修饰以及基因表达调控。尽管所有生物均能合成辅酶A，但包括人类在内的多数物种无法合成其前体——泛酸（pantothenate, Pan, 维生素B5）。有趣的是，与多数植物、真菌及细菌类似，顶复门（Apicomplexa）球虫亚群的寄生虫——包括感染人类与动物的病原体刚地弓形虫（Toxoplasma gondii）——拥有从头合成泛酸所需的全部酶类。本研究针对刚地弓形虫感染的急性与慢性阶段，深入探究了辅酶A与泛酸生物合成的重要性。通过遗传学、生物化学及代谢组学手段，研究发现刚地弓形虫速殖子（tachyzoites）内辅酶A合成的所有步骤均具有活性且不可或缺。与之相反，尽管体外实验已证实泛酸生物合成相关酶的活性，但速殖子内的泛酸生物合成实则无活性且并非必需，这表明该寄生虫具备从宿主获取泛酸的能力。本数据集包含宿主与寄生虫（经泛酸耗竭处理）的转录组学（transcriptomics）数据，旨在解析潜在的转录组变化以及寄生虫存活所需的残留泛酸来源。