{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T12:54:06Z","timestamp":1788267246584,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,30]],"date-time":"2026-01-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1769731200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100012166","name":"National Key Research and Development Program of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2022YFD1800200"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022YFD1800200"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100012166","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Youth Innovation Program of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences","award":["Y2023QC10"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Y2023QC10"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pathogens"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Oocysts of Toxoplasma gondii exhibit remarkable resistance to environmental stressors and most conventional disinfectants. Despite its ability to infect a wide variety of host species, sexual reproduction and oocyst formation occur exclusively within felid definitive hosts. Despite the epidemiological significance of oocyst-mediated transmission, the molecular mechanisms governing oocyst production and sporulation remain incompletely understood. Glutaredoxin, serving as a central regulator of cellular redox homeostasis and multiple vital cellular processes in cells, is a potential regulator for oocyst sporulation. Here, we investigated the role of TGME49_227100 (glutaredoxin 5, Grx5) in the T. gondii Pru strain-a type II strain capable of oocyst formation, with a particular focus on its functions during oocyst formation and sporulation. We found that Grx5-knockout tachyzoites exhibited no defects in growth or virulence. Neither in vitro nor in vivo tachyzoite-to-bradyzoite differentiation was affected compared to wild-type parasites. Notably, Grx5 deletion significantly reduced oocyst production in cats by approximately 70%. Additionally, the collected oocysts showed a 50% decrease in sporulation rate. These results indicate that Grx5 plays a predominant role within feline host and the external environmental stage of sporulation, which of these is likely to provide a crucial molecular target for developing a transmission-blocking vaccine.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens15020150","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,30]],"date-time":"2026-01-30T14:35:46Z","timestamp":1769783746000},"page":"150","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Loss of TGME49_227100 (Glutaredoxin 5) Disrupts Oocyst Formation and Sporulation in Toxoplasma gondii"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Fujie","family":"Xie","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Public Health and Safety, Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis of Ministry of Agriculture, National Animal Protozoa Laboratory and College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuehua","family":"Xie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Public Health and Safety, Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis of Ministry of Agriculture, National Animal Protozoa Laboratory and College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yilin","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Public Health and Safety, Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis of Ministry of Agriculture, National Animal Protozoa Laboratory and College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chenxi","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Public Health and Safety, Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis of Ministry of Agriculture, National Animal Protozoa Laboratory and College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jingxia","family":"Suo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Public Health and Safety, Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis of Ministry of Agriculture, National Animal Protozoa Laboratory and College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhenzhao","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Public Health and Safety, Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis of Ministry of Agriculture, National Animal Protozoa Laboratory and College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ruiying","family":"Liang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Animal Biosafety Risk Prevention and Control (North) of MARA, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0127-1235","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xinming","family":"Tang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Animal Biosafety Risk Prevention and Control (North) of MARA, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9425-6784","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xianyong","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Public Health and Safety, Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis of Ministry of Agriculture, National Animal Protozoa Laboratory and College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"944","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pt.2019.07.001","article-title":"\u00a0Toxoplasma gondii\u00a0","volume":"35","author":"Lourido","year":"2019","journal-title":"Trends Parasitol."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"155","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1550-7408.1972.tb03431.x","article-title":"Cyst-induced toxoplasmosis in cats","volume":"19","author":"Dubey","year":"1972","journal-title":"J. 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