The mitochondrial ribosomal protein L13 is critical for the structural and functional integrity of the mitochondrion in Plasmodium falciparum.

ABSTRACT: The phylum Apicomplexa contains a group of protozoa causing diseases in humans and livestock. Plasmodium spp., the causative agent of malaria, contains a mitochondrion that is very divergent from that of their hosts. The malarial mitochondrion is a clinically validated target for the antimalarial drug atovaquone, which specifically blocks the electron transfer activity of the bc₁ complex of the mitochondrial electron transport chain (mtETC). Most mtETC proteins are nuclear-encoded and imported from the cytosol, but three key protein subunits are encoded in the Plasmodium mitochondrial genome: cyt b, COXI, and COXIII. They are translated inside the mitochondrion by mitochondrial ribosomes (mitoribosomes). Here, we characterize the function of one large

SUBMITTER: Ke H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5971461 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature