CaaX-Like Protease of Cyanobacterial Origin Is Required for Complex Plastid Biogenesis in Malaria Parasites.

ABSTRACT: Plasmodium parasites and related apicomplexans contain an essential "complex plastid" organelle of secondary endosymbiotic origin, the apicoplast. Biogenesis of this complex plastid poses a unique challenge requiring evolution of new cellular machinery. We previously conducted a mutagenesis screen for essential apicoplast biogenesis genes to discover organellar pathways with evolutionary and biomedical significance. Here we validate and characterize a gene candidate from our screen, Pf3D7_0913500. Using a conditional knockdown strain, we show that Pf3D7_0913500 depletion causes growth inhibition that is rescued by the sole essential product of the apicoplast, isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP), and results in apicoplast loss. Because Pf3D7_0913500 had no previous functional annotation,

SUBMITTER: Meister TR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7542359 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature