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An essential malaria protein defines the architecture of blood-stage and transmission-stage parasites

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  • Sabrina Absalon

    (Boston Children’s Hospital
    Harvard Medical School)

  • Jonathan A. Robbins

    (Boston Children’s Hospital
    Massachusetts General Hospital/Brigham and Women’s Hospital)

  • Jeffrey D. Dvorin

    (Boston Children’s Hospital
    Harvard Medical School)

Abstract

Blood-stage replication of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum occurs via schizogony, wherein daughter parasites are formed by a specialized cytokinesis known as segmentation. Here we identify a parasite protein, which we name P. falciparum Merozoite Organizing Protein (PfMOP), as essential for cytokinesis of blood-stage parasites. We show that, following PfMOP knockdown, parasites undergo incomplete segmentation resulting in a residual agglomerate of partially divided cells. While organelles develop normally, the structural scaffold of daughter parasites, the inner membrane complex (IMC), fails to form in this agglomerate causing flawed segmentation. In PfMOP-deficient gametocytes, the IMC formation defect causes maturation arrest with aberrant morphology and death. Our results provide insight into the mechanisms of replication and maturation of malaria parasites.

Suggested Citation

  • Sabrina Absalon & Jonathan A. Robbins & Jeffrey D. Dvorin, 2016. "An essential malaria protein defines the architecture of blood-stage and transmission-stage parasites," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-11, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms11449
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms11449
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