PfATG18 depletion causes delayed death of P. falciparum. (A) IFAs were performed on rings (R), trophozoites (T), and schizonts (S) of PfATG18-3HA-DD parasites using anti-HA antibody and antisera against a food vacuole membrane protein PfCRT. PfATG18 was localized in vesicles, which increased in number as the parasite matured to trophozoites (T) and schizonts (S), and some of the vesicles were present around the food vacuole (white arrow). (B and C) IFAs were performed on PfATG18-3HA-DD schizonts using anti-HA antibody to detect PfATG18 and antibodies against acyl carrier protein (ACP) (B) and PfATG8 (C). It was evident that some PfATG18 vesicles were in close vicinity of the food vacuole which was stained with an antibody against food vacuole membrane protein P. falciparum CRT (PfCRT) (A). While there was no apparent colocalization of PfATG18 with the apicoplast (B), some PfATG18-labeled vesicles were detected near the branching apicoplast (B) and in proximity of vesicles containing downstream autophagy protein PfATG8 (C),

Bansal P, Tripathi A, Thakur V, Mohmmed A, Sharma P. Autophagy-Related Protein ATG18 Regulates Apicoplast Biogenesis in Apicomplexan Parasites. MBio. 2017 Oct 31;8(5). pii: e01468-17.