ArticleNature communications2025
Comparative 3D ultrastructure of Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes.
Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed.
- The long and winding road: On the endoplasmic reticulum of Plasmodium and implications for pathogenesis.PLoS pathogens · 2026Review
- Beyond structure: spectroscopic imaging in cryogenic electron microscopy.Current opinion in structural biology · 2026Review
- Article
- A bacterial-type cardiolipin synthase in Plasmodium spp. supports mitochondrial respiration and is important for liver stage maturation.PLoS pathogens · 2026Article
- Deciphering Membrane Protein Complexes in Plasmodium falciparum Gametocytes via Integrative Structural Systems Biology.Molecular & cellular proteomics : MCP · 2026Article
- A heterologous marker-free selection approach for CRISPR/Cas9-based gene editing in the malaria parasitemSphere · 2026Article
- A bridge-like lipid transfer protein is critical for generation of invasive stages in malaria parasites.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Unconventional model organisms bend our view on mitochondrial cristae.Journal of cell science · 2026Review
- A metabolism-chromatin axis promotes differential ribosomal RNA transcription in the human malaria parasite.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Article
- Detailing organelle division and segregation in Plasmodium falciparum.The Journal of cell biology · 2024Article
- Detailing organelle division and segregation inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Atlas ofeLife · 2023Article
- Atlas ofbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Despite the enormous significance of malaria parasites for global health, some basic features of their ultrastructure remain obscure. Here, we apply high-resolution volumetric electron microscopy to examine and compare the ultrastructure of the transmissible male and female sexual blood stages of Plasmodium falciparum as well as the more intensively studied asexual blood stages revisiting previously described phenomena in 3D. In doing so, we challenge the widely accepted notion of a single mitochondrion by demonstrating the presence of multiple mitochondria in gametocytes. We also provide evidence for a gametocyte-specific cytostome, or cell mouth. Furthermore, we generate the first 3D reconstructions of the parasite's endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and Golgi apparatus as well as gametocyte-induced extraparasitic structures in the infected red blood cell. Assessing interconnectivity between organelles, we find frequent structural appositions between the nucleus, mitochondria, and apicoplast. We provide evidence that the ER is a promiscuous interactor with numerous organelles and the trilaminar pellicle of the gametocyte. Public availability of these volumetric electron microscopy resources will facilitate reinterrogation by others with different research questions and expertise. Taken together, we reconstruct the 3D ultrastructure of P. falciparum gametocytes at nanometre scale and shed light on the unique organellar biology of these deadly parasites.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.