Distinct Prominent Roles for Enzymes of Plasmodium berghei Heme Biosynthesis in Sporozoite and Liver Stage Maturation.

ABSTRACT: Malarial parasites have evolved complex regulation of heme supply and disposal to adjust to heme-rich and -deprived host environments. In addition to its own pathway for heme biosynthesis, Plasmodium likely harbors mechanisms for heme scavenging from host erythrocytes. Elaborate compartmentalization of de novo heme synthesis into three subcellular locations, including the vestigial plastid organelle, indicates critical roles in life cycle progression. In this study, we systematically profile the essentiality of heme biosynthesis by targeted gene deletion of enzymes in early steps of this pathway. We show that disruption of endogenous heme biosynthesis leads to a first detectable defect in oocyst maturation and sporogony in the Anopheles vector, whereas blood stage propagation, colonization

SUBMITTER: Rizopoulos Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5067757 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature