Disruption of a Plasmodium falciparum patatin-like phospholipase delays male gametocyte exflagellation.
Mol Microbiol
; 121(3): 529-542, 2024 03.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38131156
ABSTRACT
An essential process in transmission of the malaria parasite to the Anopheles vector is the conversion of mature gametocytes into gametes within the mosquito gut, where they egress from the red blood cell (RBC). During egress, male gametocytes undergo exflagellation, leading to the formation of eight haploid motile microgametes, while female gametes retain their spherical shape. Gametocyte egress depends on sequential disruption of the parasitophorous vacuole membrane and the host cell membrane. In other life cycle stages of the malaria parasite, phospholipases have been implicated in membrane disruption processes during egress, however their importance for gametocyte egress is relatively unknown. Here, we performed comprehensive functional analyses of six putative phospholipases for their role during development and egress of Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes. We localize two of them, the prodrug activation and resistance esterase (PF3D7_0709700) and the lysophospholipase 1 (PF3D7_1476700), to the parasite plasma membrane. Subsequently, we show that disruption of most of the studied phospholipase genes does neither affect gametocyte development nor egress. The exception is the putative patatin-like phospholipase 3 (PF3D7_0924000), whose gene deletion leads to a delay in male gametocyte exflagellation, indicating an important, albeit not essential, role of this enzyme in male gametogenesis.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Plasmodium falciparum
/
Malaria
Límite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Mol Microbiol
Asunto de la revista:
BIOLOGIA MOLECULAR
/
MICROBIOLOGIA
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Alemania
Pais de publicación:
Reino Unido