Nuclear pore complexes undergo Nup221 exchange during blood stage asexual replication of Plasmodium parasites.

Abstract

Plasmodium parasites, the causative agents of malaria, undergo closed mitosis without breakdown of the nuclear envelope. Unlike closed mitosis in yeast, P. berghei parasites undergo multiple rounds of asynchronous nuclear divisions in a shared cytoplasm which results in a multinucleated organism prior to formation of daughter cells within an infected red blood cell. During this replication process, intact nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) and their component nucleoporins play critical roles in parasite growth, facilitating selective bi-directional nucleocytoplasmic transport and genome organization. Here we utilize ultrastructure expansion microscopy (U-ExM) to investigate P. berghei nucleoporins at the single nucleus level throughout the 24-hour blood-stage replication cycle. Our findings reveal that these Nups are evenly distributed around the nuclei and organized in a rosete structure previously undescribed around the centriolar plaque, which is responsible for intranuclear microtubule nucleation during mitosis. By adapting the recombination-induced tag exchange (RITE) system to P. berghei, we provide evidence of NPC maintenance, demonstrating Nup221 turnover during parasite asexual replication. Our data shed light on the distribution of NPCs and their homeostasis during the blood-stage replication of P. berghei parasites. Summary StatementEmploying ultrastructure expansion microscopy and the RITE system, this study unveils Nup221 turnover in nuclear pore complexes of Plasmodium parasites, shedding light on their replication mechanisms.