Figure 5

The effect of incubation media and parasite density on nuclear condensation in Plasmodium berghei. Following harvesting, ookinetes were incubated for 4 h in RPMI supplemented with; FBS (A), RPMI alone (B) or PBS (C). In each case three densities of ookinetes were used. Ookinetes showing chromatin condensation were identified by using acridine orange and classed as apoptotic (CC), those with a compromised membrane were detected with propidium iodide and classed as dead (D) and those with neither of these markers were alive (L). Error bars = SEM for three experimental repeats, each with at least two replicates of counts and each count = 50 ookinetes. The same colour bars with different letters are significantly different p<0.05).