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Updated: Jun 24, 2026

Understanding the Development of Compensatory Pathways in a Mutant Malaria Parasite Harbouring Hypomorphic Allele of Plant-Like Kinases
Published on: November 22, 2024
The Plasmodium HU homolog, which binds the plastid DNA sequence-independent manner, is essential for the parasite's
Narie Sasaki1, Makoto Hirai, Katsura Maeda
1Division of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan.
Abstract:
The nuclear genome of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum encodes a homolog of the bacterial HU protein (PfHU). In this study, we characterised PfHU's physiological function. PfHU, which is targeted exclusively to the parasite's plastid, bound its natural target--the plastid DNA--sequence-independently and complemented lack of HU in Escherichia coli. The HU gene could not be knocked-out from the genome of Plasmodium berghei, implying that HU is important for the parasite's survival. As the human cell lacks the HU homolog, PfHU is a potential target for drugs to control malaria.
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