Golgi architecture in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum

Abstract

Plasmodium falciparum, the causative agent of malaria, relies on a sophisticated protein secretion system for host cell invasion and transformation. Although the parasite displays a secretory pathway similar to those of all eukaryotic organisms, it possesses a rather unique Golgi apparatus. In order to get a better understanding of Golgi morphology in Plasmodium we identified and characterized the Golgi matrix protein PfGRASP, a homologue of the Golgi re‐assembly stacking protein (GRASP) family. Our analysis revealed that although the genome of the parasite encodes only one grasp gene, two splice variants exist. This might be reminiscent of the two GRASP proteins present in other eukaryotic ..