The < i > Plasmodium < /i > NOT1-G paralogue is an essential regulator of sexual stage maturation and parasite transmission

by Kevin J. Hart, B. Joanne Power, Kelly T. Rios, Aswathy Sebastian, Scott E. Lindner Productive transmission of malaria parasites hinges upon the execution of key transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulatory events. While much is now known about how specific transcription factors activate or repress sexual commitment programs, far less is known about the production of a pref erred mRNA homeostasis following commitment and through the host-to-vector transmission event. Here, we show that inPlasmodium parasites, the NOT1 scaffold protein of the CAF1/CCR4/Not complex is duplicated, and one paralogue is dedicated for essential transmission functions. Moreover, this NOT1-G paralogue is central to the sex-specific functions previously associated with its interacting partners, as deletion ofnot1-g inPlasmodium yoelii leads to a comparable or complete arrest phenotype for both male and female parasites. We show that, consistent with its role in other eukaryotes, PyNOT1-G localizes to cytosolic puncta throughout much of thePlasmodium life cycle. PyNOT1-G is essential to both the complete maturation of male gametes and to the continued development of the fertilized zygote originating from female parasites. Comparative transcriptomics of wild-type andpynot1-g− parasites shows that loss of PyNOT1-G leads to transcript dysregulation preceding and during gametocytogenesis and shows that PyNOT1-G acts to preserve mRNAs that are critical to sexual and early mosquito stage developme...
Source: PLoS Biology: Archived Table of Contents - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: research