Figure 1

Site of parasite release and its formation in the chamber. DIC light microscopy (A, B), DIC and fluorescent microscopy (C). A. A representative site. P – parasite, DV – digestive vacuole with haemozoin, Pf M – fragments of the parasite-derived membranes, RBC M – ruptured RBC membrane. B. Formation of the site in the chamber. Set of four timed pictures for a parasite releasing erythrocyte. Note that RBC- and parasite-derived membrane fragments are better detected at the extended time post parasite release. Flower – a pre-release stage of a schizont inside an infected RBC [2]. C. Identification of the membrane fragments' origin using differentially labelled infected RBC as described elsewhere [2]. Red colour objects – parasites (P) or fragments of parasite-derived internal membranes (Pf M) labelled with FM 4-64. Yellowish-green objects – blebs and vesicles originated from the ruptured RBC membrane (RBC M) labelled with FM 4-64 (red colour) and streptavidin-QD (green colour). Scale bar equals 5 μm.