Molecular mechanism of organellar replication in Plasmodium falciparum
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Sheffield
Department Name: School of Biosciences
Abstract
Plasmodium harbours an essential non-photosynthetic plastid
called the apicoplast. Just like mitochondria, apicoplast has its
own genome and accurate duplication of the apicoplast DNA is
essential for Plasmodium survival. Apicoplast replication is
performed by a dedicated replication machinery (replisome),
which is divergent from both the eukaryotic and bacterial
replisomes. At present we do not know how the apicoplast
replisome functions. In this inter-disciplinary project we will use
single particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) along with
enzyme kinetics and single molecule biophysics to develop the
first comprehensive picture of how apicoplast genome
duplication occurs.
This work will have a major impact on our understanding of
replication, a fundamental cellular process, and will also inform
downstream research geared towards antimalarial drug
development for combating multi-drug resistant Plasmodium
infection
called the apicoplast. Just like mitochondria, apicoplast has its
own genome and accurate duplication of the apicoplast DNA is
essential for Plasmodium survival. Apicoplast replication is
performed by a dedicated replication machinery (replisome),
which is divergent from both the eukaryotic and bacterial
replisomes. At present we do not know how the apicoplast
replisome functions. In this inter-disciplinary project we will use
single particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) along with
enzyme kinetics and single molecule biophysics to develop the
first comprehensive picture of how apicoplast genome
duplication occurs.
This work will have a major impact on our understanding of
replication, a fundamental cellular process, and will also inform
downstream research geared towards antimalarial drug
development for combating multi-drug resistant Plasmodium
infection
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
Indrajit Lahiri (Primary Supervisor) |
Studentship Projects
Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
BB/T007222/1 | 01/10/2020 | 30/09/2028 | |||
2746213 | Studentship | BB/T007222/1 | 01/10/2022 | 30/09/2026 |