Strange organelles--Plasmodium mitochondria lack a pyruvate dehydrogenase complex.
Our understanding of the Plasmodium mitochondrion and apicoplast has been greatly assisted by the genome sequence project. Sequence data have seeded recent research showing that the apicoplast is the site of several anabolic pathways including fatty acid synthesis. The discovery of an active apicoplast pyruvate dehydrogenase complex implies this enzyme generates the acetyl-CoA needed for fatty acid synthesis. However, the absence of a corresponding mitochondrial complex suggests that energy generation in Plasmodium is considerably different from pathways described in other eukaryotes.
Ralph
Stuart A
SA
Institut Pasteur, Biology of Host-Parasite Interactions Unit (CNRS URA2581) 25, rue du Docteur Roux, F-75724 PARIS CEDEX 15, France. sralph@pasteur.fr
D000818:Animals; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000201:enzymology*; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology*; D018087:Plastids / Q000201:enzymology*; D011768:Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Complex / Q000235:genetics
D011768:Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Complex