ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the major metabolic pathways that are important for parasite survival and development, many of which may also be explored as potential molecular targets for developing therapeutics for the control or treatment of Cryptosporidium infection in humans and animals. The genome sequencing projects on C. parvum and C. hominis serve as a milestone in the history of Cryptosporidium research. However, early expressed sequence tag and random genome sequence survey projects also deserve credit as a first and critical step in understanding the metabolism in C. parvum at systematic levels. Data obtained from these sequencing projects jump-started our overall understanding of the molecular biology, biochemistry, and evolution of Cryptosporidium. One of the major goals of ongoing and future studies on Cryptosporidium biochemistry is to identify and validate potential molecular targets for the development of new drugs against cryptospo-ridiosis in humans and animals, particularly for treating infections in immunocompromised patients.
