Basal complex biogenesis and development throughout segmentation.

Parasites expressing an smV5-tagged copy of the basal complex marker CINCH were prepared by ultrastructural expansion microscopy (U-ExM), stained with N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) ester (grayscale), BODIPY TRc (white), SYTOX (cyan), and anti-V5 (basal complex; magenta) antibodies and imaged using Airyscan microscopy across segmentation. (a) Images of whole parasites throughout asexual blood-stage development. (b) Basal complex development during schizogony. The basal complex is formed around the parasite plasma membrane (PPM) anchor of the outer centriolar plaque (CP). In nuclei whose outer CP has two branches, and will therefore undergo mitosis, the basal complex rings are duplicated. From early segmentation, the basal complex acquires a stable, expanding ring form. Cytostomes that will form part of merozoites are marked with a white asterisk, while those outside merozoites are marked with a yellow asterisk. Images are maximum-intensity projections, number on image = Z-axis thickness of projection in µm. Scale bars = 2 µm.

Liffner B, Cepeda Diaz AK, Blauwkamp J, Anaguano D, Frolich S, Muralidharan V, Wilson DW, Dvorin JD, Absalon S. Atlas of Plasmodium falciparum intraerythrocytic development using expansion microscopy. Elife. 2023 12:RP88088. PMID: 38108809