The apicoplast: a new member of the plastid family.
Protozoan parasites of the phylum Apicomplexa include pathogens such as Plasmodium, Toxoplasma and Cryptosporidium. They have been shown to contain a vestigial nonphotosynthetic plastid, the apicoplast, which might have arisen by secondary endosymbiosis. Little is known about the function of the apicoplast but the parasites exhibit delayed cell death when their apicoplast is impaired. The discovery of the apicoplast opens an unexpected opportunity to link current fundamental research on plant and algal plastids to the physiology of apicomplexans. For example, the apicoplast might provide new targets for innovative drugs that act as herbicides and do not affect the mammalian host.
Maréchal
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Laboratoire de Physiologie Cellulaire Végétale, UMR 5019 CNRS-CEA-Université Joseph Fourier, CEA-Grenoble, 17 rue des Martyrs, 38054 Grenoble Cedex 9, France. emarechal@cea.fr
Cesbron-Delauw
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D000818:Animals; D016782:Apicomplexa / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D001692:Biological Transport; D056890:Eukaryota / Q000235:genetics; D017125:Genes, Protozoan; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D018087:Plastids / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D013559:Symbiosis / Q000235:genetics; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000235:genetics / Q000648:ultrastructure
D015800:Protozoan Proteins