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Wang et al. discovered that AP2XI-2 and AP2XII-1 negatively regulate merozoite-primed pre-sexual commitment in Toxoplasma gondii, and parasites depleted of either AP2XI-2 or AP2XII-1 can serve as a valuable in vitro model for studying merogony.
The parasite Cryptosporidium has a reduced genome and is dependent on glycolysis for energy production. Here, Xu et al demonstrate that multiple pathways and glucose transporters exist in this organism which are essential for growth and facilitate energy acquisition and utilization.
Mature Schistosoma mansoni worms release excretory secretory products (ESPs) which modulate key processes in worms of the opposite sex via the ERK and p38 MAPK pathways, indicating that male and female schistosomes can communicate over distances.
Iron is essential to cells, however without correct storage can lead to cell damage. Aghabi et al. show that the vacuolar iron transporter (VIT) is required for iron storage in the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. They find VIT protects against iron toxicity and has a role in parasite virulence.
In this study, Brown et al. show that nutrient deprivation increases Plasmodium falciparum survival and tolerance to the antimalarial drug artemisinin.
A recent study shows that phosphatidic acid produced during infection acts as an intrinsic signal that governs natural egress of the parasite Toxoplasma gondii through a guanylate cyclase signalling platform.
Two recent studies provide new insights into the architecture, molecular mechanisms and function of the Plasmodium translocon of exported proteins (PTEX) complex and the core PTEX protein EXP2.
