Transmission of the malaria parasite requires ferlin for gamete egress from the red blood cell

• Verfasst von: Obrová, Klára [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Cyrklaff, Marek [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Frank, Roland [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Müller, Ann-Kristin [VerfasserIn]
• Titel: Transmission of the malaria parasite requires ferlin for gamete egress from the red blood cell
• Verf.angabe: Klara Obrova, Marek Cyrklaff, Roland Frank, Gunnar R. Mair, Ann-Kristin Mueller
• Jahr: 2019
• Jahr des Originals: 2018
• Umfang: 14 S.
• Teil: volume:21
• Teil: year:2019
• Teil: number:5
• Teil: pages:1-15
• Teil: extent:14
• Fussnoten: Gesehen am 21.05.2019 ; First published: 29 December 2018
• Titel Quelle: Enthalten in: Cellular microbiology
• Ort Quelle: Oxford [u.a.] : Wiley-Blackwell, 1999
• Jahr Quelle: 2019
• Band/Heft Quelle: 21(2019,5) Artikel-Nummer , e12999, 14 Seiten
• ISSN Quelle: 1462-5822
• DOI: doi:10.1111/cmi.12999
• Datenträger: Online-Ressource
• Sprache: eng
• K10plus-PPN: 1666006440

Abstract

Ferlins mediate calcium-dependent vesicular fusion. Although conserved throughout eukaryotic evolution, their function in unicellular organisms including apicomplexan parasites is largely unknown. Here, we define a crucial role for a ferlin-like protein (FLP) in host-to-vector transmission of the rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei. Infection of the mosquito vectors requires the formation of free gametes and their fertilisation in the mosquito midgut. Mature gametes will only emerge upon secretion of factors that stimulate the disruption of the red blood cell membrane and the parasitophorous vacuole membrane. Genetic depletion of FLP in sexual stages leads to a complete life cycle arrest in the mosquito. Although mature gametes form normally, mutants lacking FLP remain trapped in the red blood cell. The egress defect is rescued by detergent-mediated membrane lysis. In agreement with ferlin vesicular localisation, HA-tagged FLP labels intracellular speckles, which relocalise to the cell periphery during gamete maturation. Our data define FLP as a novel critical factor for Plasmodium fertilisation and transmission and suggest an evolutionarily conserved example of ferlin-mediated exocytosis.