Repurposing the mitotic machinery to drive cellular elongation and chromatin reorganisation in Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes

Repurposing the mitotic machinery to drive cellular elongation and chromatin reorganisation in Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes

Abstract The sexual stage gametocytes of the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum , adopt a falciform (crescent) shape driven by the assembly of a network of microtubules anchored to a cisternal inner membrane complex (IMC). Using 3D electron microscopy, we show that a non-mitotic microtubule org...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications 2022-08, Vol.13 (1), p.5054-5054, Article 5054
Main Authors: Li, Jiahong, Shami, Gerald J., Cho, Ellie, Liu, Boyin, Hanssen, Eric, Dixon, Matthew W. A., Tilley, Leann
Format: Article
Language:eng
Subjects:
Chromatin
Depolymerization
Electron microscopy
Elongation
Endoplasmic reticulum
Erythrocytes
Gametocytes
Genomes
Machinery
Malaria
Membranes
Microscopy
Microtubule-associated proteins
Mitosis
Parasites
Plasmodium falciparum
Proteins
Seeds
Trifluralin
Vector-borne diseases
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Summary:Abstract The sexual stage gametocytes of the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum , adopt a falciform (crescent) shape driven by the assembly of a network of microtubules anchored to a cisternal inner membrane complex (IMC). Using 3D electron microscopy, we show that a non-mitotic microtubule organizing center (MTOC), embedded in the parasite’s nuclear membrane, orients the endoplasmic reticulum and the nascent IMC and seeds cytoplasmic microtubules. A bundle of microtubules extends into the nuclear lumen, elongating the nuclear envelope and capturing the chromatin. Classical mitotic machinery components, including centriolar plaque proteins, Pf centrin-1 and −4, microtubule-associated protein, End-binding protein-1, kinetochore protein, Pf NDC80 and centromere-associated protein, Pf CENH3, are involved in the nuclear microtubule assembly/disassembly process. Depolymerisation of the microtubules using trifluralin prevents elongation and disrupts the chromatin, centromere and kinetochore organisation. We show that the unusual non-mitotic hemispindle plays a central role in chromatin organisation, IMC positioning and subpellicular microtubule formation in gametocytes.
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723