Readers respond

To the Editor:

I have read with great interest the article “Decoding Cryptosporidium” and would like to make a few clarifications.

First, Dr. Mitchell Abrahamsen (Cryptosporidium parvum genome project leader) is at the University of Minnesota, College of Veterinary Medicine, rather than the College of Medicine.

Secondly, the statement “the C. parvum mitochondrial genome is very much reduced” is wrong, because there is no mitochondrial genome at all in this parasite. However, a few mitochondrial-associated proteins have been found in the C. parvum nuclear genome, suggesting the presence of highly degenerate mitochondria in this parasite.

Thirdly, the article appears to imply the lack of an apicoplast in C. parvum was discovered by the genome project. In fact, we had published our data on the lack of an apicoplast in this parasite in 2000. The genome project actually confirms our original data and hypothesis.

Sincerely,

Guan Zhu, PhD (gzhu@cvm.tamu.edu)

Texas A&M ...