Plasmodium falciparum CRK4 directs continuous rounds of DNA replication during schizogony.

ABSTRACT: Plasmodium parasites, the causative agents of malaria, have evolved a unique cell division cycle in the clinically relevant asexual blood stage of infection¹. DNA replication commences approximately halfway through the intracellular development following invasion and parasite growth. The schizont stage is associated with multiple rounds of DNA replication and nuclear division without cytokinesis, resulting in a multinucleated cell. Nuclei divide asynchronously through schizogony, with only the final round of DNA replication and segregation being synchronous and coordinated with daughter cell assembly^2,3. However, the control mechanisms for this divergent mode of replication are unknown. Here, we show that the Plasmodium-specific kinase PfCRK4 is a key cell-cycle regul

SUBMITTER: Ganter M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5328244 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature