Fig. 1

Effect of PBANKA_1019700 deletion on the asexual and sexual development of Plasmodium berghei (strain ANKA). Female C57BL/6 (B6) mice were infected with 1 × 10⁴ erythrocytes parasitized with Plasmodium berghei ANKA with PBANKA_1019700 deletion (Δ1019700). As a control, P. berghei ANKA with p230 deletion was inoculated intravenously into mice. A Time course of parasitaemia. Results are expressed as mean ± standard deviation (SD) from six mice. Experiments using six mice were performed in triplicate. B Survival rate. Data are the mean ± SD from six mice and are representative of three independent experiments. C Cell cycle during the asexual phase. Results are mean ± SD from three independent experiments. D Bioluminescence images of luciferase activity in the organs of infected mice. For bioluminescence analysis, erythrocytes parasitized with Pb ANKA were transferred to RPMI1640 medium supplemented with 25% fetal bovine serum, 0.05 mg/mL penicillin, and 0.05 mg/mL streptomycin. The parasitized erythrocytes were incubated for 18 h under 90% N₂, 5% CO₂, and 5% O₂. Mature schizonts and gametocytes were harvested using Nycodenz density gradient centrifugation. B6 mice were injected with 5 × 10⁶–5 × 10⁷ schizonts of luciferase-expressing P. berghei with p230 deletion (control), Δ1019700 or Δsbp1 mutants. At 22 h post-infection, d-luciferin (1.5 mg) was injected into the tail vein of each mouse and the organs from each group were removed after perfusion. Fold change indicates the change in luciferase activity compared to mice infected with luciferase-expressing P. berghei with p230 deletion (control). Dotted lines indicate significant differences (≥ twofold or ≤ 0.5-fold). Results are expressed as mean ± SD from three mice. Experiments were performed in duplicate with similar results