The carbon and energy sources of the non-photosynthetic plastid in the malaria parasite.
The malaria parasite harbours an indispensable plastid known as the 'apicoplast'. The apicoplast's exact role remains uncertain, but it houses components involved in fatty acid, isoprenoid and haem biosyntheses. These pathways offer opportunities to develop anti-malarials. In the absence of photosynthesis, how apicoplast anabolism is fuelled is unclear. Here we investigated plant-like transporters of the apicoplast and measured their substrate preferences using a novel cell-free assay system to explore the carbon and energy sources of the apicoplast. The transporters exchange triose phosphate and phosphoenolpyruvate for inorganic phosphate, demonstrating that the apicoplast taps into host-derived glucose to fuel its metabolism.
Lim
Liting
L
School of Botany, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia.
Linka
Marc
M
Mullin
Kylie A
KA
Weber
Andreas P M
AP
McFadden
Geoffrey I
GI
D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002244:Carbon / Q000378:metabolism*; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D008288:Malaria / Q000469:parasitology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000378:metabolism*; D018087:Plastids / Q000378:metabolism*; D011510:Proteolipids / Q000378:metabolism
D011510:Proteolipids; C020485:proteoliposomes; D002244:Carbon