1. Housekeeping and other metabolic functions of the Plasmodium plastid.
- Author
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Haider, Afreen, Gupta, Ankit, Vaish, Suniti, Kumar, Bijay, Charan, Manish, Mir, Snober S., Tanveer, Aiman, Sinha, Ashima, and Habib, Saman
- Subjects
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PLASMODIUM falciparum , *METABOLISM , *PLASTIDS , *PHOTOSYNTHESIS , *GENETIC translation , *FATTY acid synthesis , *DNA ,ISOPENTENOID synthesis - Abstract
The malaria parasite carries a plastid called the apicoplast that has been the subject of intense study in the last 15 years. Having originated from red-algal plastids, the apicoplast has lost its ability to photosynthesize, but carries out other essential functions such as type-II fatty acid synthesis, biosynthesis of haem and isoprenoid synthesis; the DOXP pathway for isoprenoid synthesis has recently been demonstrated to be the only pathway critical for parasite survival in the erythrocytic stage. The apicoplast also has a functional Suf system for assembly of (Fe-S) complexes on target proteins. The organelle has a 35 kb, double-stranded DNA genome that encodes a set of RNAs and proteins, the latter being translated from organellar mRNA by an active translation machinery, a major component of which is encoded by the nucleus. This article reviews current knowledge of housekeeping functions of the Plasmodium apicoplast and its (Fe-S) assembly system and discusses these components as sites for drug intervention against malaria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2012