A Phosphoinositide-Binding Protein Acts in the Trafficking Pathway of Hemoglobin in the Malaria Parasite Plasmodium falciparum.

ABSTRACT: Phosphoinositide lipids play key roles in a variety of processes in eukaryotic cells, but our understanding of their functions in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum is still very much limited. To gain a deeper comprehension of the roles of phosphoinositides in this important pathogen, we attempted gene inactivation for 24 putative effectors of phosphoinositide metabolism. Our results reveal that 79% of the candidates are refractory to genetic deletion and are therefore potentially essential for parasite growth. Inactivation of the gene coding for a Plasmodium-specific putative phosphoinositide-binding protein, which we named PfPX1, results in a severe growth defect. We show that PfPX1 likely binds phosphatidylinositol-3-phosphate and that it localizes to the membrane of the

SUBMITTER: Mukherjee A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8764524 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature