Regulation of phospholipid synthesis and vesicular trafficking in Toxoplasma gondii by protein kinase TgCDPK7

Calcium Dependent Protein Kinases (CDPKs) are key effector in calcium signaling in Apicomplexan parasites. CDPK7 is one such kinase, which plays a crucial role in intracellular infection of Toxoplasma gondii parasite. To gain insights into how CDPK7 play a role in parasites survival, we have performed comparative phosphoproteomic to identify putative targets of TgCDPK7 in the parasites. Proteins from TgCDPK7 knockdown and wild were isolated, digested with trypsin and labelled with TMT. From the quantitative proteomic analysis by high- resolution mass spectrometry, differentially phosphorylated proteins were identified, which can be direct or indirect substrates of TgCDPK7. Many proteins which are involved in lipid metabolism are also found significantly altered.