Mitochondria and apicoplast of Plasmodium falciparum: Behaviour on subcellular fractionation and the implication

Tamaki Kobayashi, Shigeharu Sato, Shinzaburo Takamiya, Kanako Komaki-Yasuda, Kazuhiko Yano, Ayami Hirata, Izumi Onitsuka, Masayuki Hata, Fumika Mi-ichi, Takeshi Tanaka, Toshiharu Hase, Atsushi Miyajima, Shin ichiro Kawazu, Yoh ichi Watanabe, Kiyoshi Kita

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

37 Scopus citations

Abstract

The mitochondrion and the apicoplast of the malaria parasite, Plasmodium spp. is microscopically observed in a close proximity to each other. In this study, we tested the suitability of two different separation techniques - Percoll density gradient centrifugation and fluorescence-activated organelle sorting - for improving the purity of mitochondria isolated from the crude organelle preparation of Plasmodium falciparum. To our surprise, the apicoplast was inseparable from the plasmodial mitochondrion by each method. This implies these two plasmodial organelles are bound each other. This is the first experimental evidence of a physical binding between the two organelles in Plasmodium.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)125-132
Number of pages8
JournalMitochondrion
Volume7
Issue number1-2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2007
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Apicoplast
  • Fluorescence-activated organelle fractionation
  • Mitochondrion
  • Plasmodium falciparum

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Molecular Medicine
  • Molecular Biology
  • Cell Biology

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