Shewanella-like phosphatases, abbreviated as Shelphs, are a group of enzymes structurally related to protein serine/threonine phosphatases (PPP family).
[1] Unlike the canonical subfamilies found in eukaryotes (PP1, PP2A, calcineurin, PP5 and PPEF/PP7),[1][2][3] Shelphs span the eukaryote-prokaryote boundary and are found in several genera of Pseudomonadota (formerly proteobacteria), in plants, red algae, fungi and some unicellular parasites, including a causative agent of malaria Plasmodium, Cryptosporidium and kinetoplastids (Trypanosoma and Leishmania species).
[4] The prototypic member of the group, a phosphatase from a psychrophilic bacterium Shewanella, has been studied as a model to understand the mechanisms that contribute to the high catalytic efficiency of enzymes from organisms adapted to low temperatures.
[5] One of the two Shelph isoforms in plants is predicted to be located in the chloroplast.
[4] Due to the absence of Shelphs in humans, these phosphatases have recently attracted attention as potential targets for new antiparasitic drug discovery.