ArticlePLoS biology2021
Expansion microscopy provides new insights into the cytoskeleton of malaria parasites including the conservation of a conoid.
Article in PLoS biology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 91 papers.
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91 citing papers in PubMed, 152 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- Article
- A Genetically Encoded Marker for Imaging of Internal Plasmodium Membranes.Molecular microbiology · 2026Article
- Article
- A cytoskeleton-associated Plasmodium protein critical for organelle segregation.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Towards a systems-level view of the microtubule cytoskeleton and its functions in physiology and disease.Nature reviews. Molecular cell biology · 2026Review
- Dual apical methyltransferases orchestrate motility initiation in apicomplexan parasites.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Essential nucleus-apical pole linkage maintains division fidelity during Plasmodium progeny formation.The EMBO journal · 2026Article
- The apical polar ring is essential during the blood stage of Plasmodium falciparum.Nature microbiology · 2026Article
- A modular chromosomal passenger complex rewires chromosome segregation in Plasmodium berghei.Nature communications · 2026Article
- HAK-actin, a U-ExM-compatible probe to image the actin cytoskeleton.Cell reports methods · 2026Article
- 3D Expansion-PALM (PhotoActivated Localization Microscopy) Dissects Protein-Protein Interactions Down to the Molecular Scale in Bacteria.Microorganisms · 2026Article
- An Advanced Mobile Laboratory to enable field-based microbial ecology and cell biology across scales.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Erythrocyte Membrane Protein 3 (EMAP3) Is Exposed on the Surface of the Plasmodium berghei Infected Red Blood Cell.Molecular microbiology · 2026Article
- Plasmodium ARK1 regulates spindle formation during atypical mitosis and forms a divergent chromosomal passenger complex.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Transmembrane proteins mediate basal complex assembly and individual daughter cell formation in malaria parasites.Science advances · 2026Article
- Microtubule inner proteins in apicomplexan parasites.Biochemical Society transactions · 2026Review
- Imaging malaria parasites across scales and time.Journal of microscopy · 2026Review
- Article
- The essential function of the apical polar ring during the blood stage ofbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
31 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
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.
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