Characterisation and sub-cellular localisation of enzyme of the DOXP pathway in Plasmodium falciparum

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Ewald Beck
• Subject Area: Parasitology and Biology of Tropical Infectious Disease Pathogens
• Term: from 2002 to 2005
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5390918

Parasites of the phylum Apicomplexa possess a plastide-like organelle (apicoplast) acquired by secondary endosymbiosis in early eucaryotic evolution. The metabolic functions of the apicoplast are largely unknown except for the presence of enzymes involved in fatty acid synthesis. In our recent work we have provided evidence that the apicoplast plays an essential role in the synthesis of isoprenoids. In P. falciparum, isoprenoids are synthesised by the 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate (DOXP) pathway utilised by a number of bacteria species, algae, and higher plants, but absent in animals. In plants, the DOXP pathway is exclusively localised inside the plastids. Evidence for the localisation of the enzymes involved in the DOXP pathway inside the apicoplast of malaria parasites is still preliminary and needs to be proven experimentally. In this project the sub-cellular localisation of selected enzymes of the DOXP pathway will be determined by immunofluorescence and electron microscopy in P. falciparum. The time course of expression and processing of the enzymes during the life cycle of the parasites will be monitored by Western blot and immunoprecipitation experiments. In future studies we will characterise the activity of the enzymes of the DOXP pathway in P. falciparum and try to establish their interaction with other metabolic pathways and structures of the apicoplast.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1131: Life Inside Cells