Bacterial and Protozoan Lipoxygenases Could be Involved in Cell-to-Cell Signaling and Immune Response Suppression

---

G. F. Kurakin^1,a*, A. M. Samoukina², and N. A. Potapova^3,4

¹Department of Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine, Tver State Medical University, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, 170100 Tver, Russia

²Department of Microbiology, Virology, and Immunology, Tver State Medical University, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, 170100 Tver, Russia

³Kharkevich Institute for Information Transmission Problems, Russian Academy of Sciences, 127051 Moscow, Russia

⁴Faculty of Bioengineering and Bioinformatics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119234 Moscow, Russia

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received June 19, 2020; Revised June 22, 2020; Accepted June 22, 2020

---

Lipoxygenases are found in animals, plants, and fungi, where they are involved in a wide range of cell-to-cell signaling processes. The presence of lipoxygenases in a number of bacteria and protozoa has been also established, but their biological significance remains poorly understood. Several hypothetical functions of lipoxygenases in bacteria and protozoa have been suggested without experimental validation. The objective of our study was evaluating the functions of bacterial and protozoan lipoxygenases by evolutionary and taxonomic analysis using bioinformatics tools. Lipoxygenase sequences were identified and examined using BLAST, followed by analysis of constructed phylogenetic trees and networks. Our results support the theory on the involvement of lipoxygenases in the formation of multicellular structures by microorganisms and their possible evolutionary significance in the emergence of multicellularity. Furthermore, we observed association of lipoxygenases with the suppression of host immune response by parasitic and symbiotic bacteria including dangerous opportunistic pathogens.

---

KEY WORDS: lipoxygenases, bacteria, protozoa, bioinformatics, phylogenetics, signaling, multicellularity, opportunistic pathogens

DOI: 10.1134/S0006297920090059

---