Abstract

To ensure disease transmission, the malaria parasite undergoes multiple rounds of metamorphosis, as it entirely alters its cell morphology to promote uptake and establishment in the mosquito vector and human host. Two cytoskeletal components play essential roles in this process: microtubules and actin.

Within each new ecological niche, microtubules drive the single-celled parasite’s successive cellular transformations. Microtubules have been studied extensively and their architecture and composition are established to be highly conserved. Using focussed ion beam milling and electron cryo tomography, we recently studied distinct stages in the Plasmodium falciparum life cycle. This revealed that the parasite has microtubules which are evolved to undertake specific roles in each life cycle stage with structures that are strikingly different from the well-studied canonical microtubules in vertebrates.

While unique microtubules drive cellular transformations, filamentous actin ensures several parasite stages can migrate between different niches. These stages utilise a unique form of motility, termed gliding motility, which relies on a specialised actomyosin motor system. Our recent work on actively gliding parasites sheds light on this process and highlights novel roles of parasite actin in other cellular locations. Together, this work provides unanticipated insights into adaptations of the parasite’s cytoskeleton, highlighting areas of novelty where the parasite has diverged from the biology of the host.