Open AccessExpansion microscopy provides new insights into the cytoskeleton of malaria parasites including the conservation of a conoid
Author(s) -
Éloïse Bertiaux,
Aurélia C. Balestra,
Lorène Bourville,
Vincent Louvel,
Bohumil Maco,
Dominique SoldatiFavre,
Mathieu Brochet,
Paul Guichard,
Virginie Hamel
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.127
H-Index - 271
eISSN - 1545-7885
pISSN - 1544-9173
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001020
Subject(s) - conoid , biology , cytoskeleton , microtubule , microbiology and biotechnology , tubulin , plasmodium (life cycle) , plasmodium falciparum , malaria , evolutionary biology , genetics , parasite hosting , anatomy , immunology , cell , world wide web , computer science
Malaria is caused by unicellular Plasmodium parasites. Plasmodium relies on diverse microtubule cytoskeletal structures for its reproduction, multiplication, and dissemination. Due to the small size of this parasite, its cytoskeleton has been primarily observable by electron microscopy (EM). Here, we demonstrate that the nanoscale cytoskeleton organisation is within reach using ultrastructure expansion microscopy (U-ExM). In developing microgametocytes, U-ExM allows monitoring the dynamic assembly of axonemes and concomitant tubulin polyglutamylation in whole cells. In the invasive merozoite and ookinete forms, U-ExM unveils the diversity across Plasmodium stages and species of the subpellicular microtubule arrays that confer cell rigidity. In ookinetes, we additionally identify an apical tubulin ring (ATR) that colocalises with markers of the conoid in related apicomplexan parasites. This tubulin-containing structure was presumed to be lost in Plasmodium despite its crucial role in motility and invasion in other apicomplexans. Here, U-ExM reveals that a divergent and considerably reduced form of the conoid is actually conserved in Plasmodium species.