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Apicoplast Translation, Transcription, and Genome Replication

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Malaria

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Synonyms

Organelle; Plastid

Definition

The apicoplast is an organelle of malaria parasites related to the plastid of plant cells. The apicoplast has limited biochemical functions in erythrocytic parasites, but it is essential, as antibiotics that target the apicoplast block parasite development, although in most cases their antimalarial activity is slow.

Introduction

A number of antibiotics possess antimalarial activity, although the mechanisms by which most of these drugs kill malaria parasites were until recently poorly understood. Recent data suggest that the target for multiple antimalarial antibiotics is the apicoplast, a plastid-like organelle. Treatment with prokaryotic protein synthesis inhibitors including tetracyclines, clindamycin, and macrolides causes modest antimalarial effects initially and then much more potent effects in the progeny of treated parasites. Inhibiting apicoplast functions with these antibiotics causes the next generation to inherit nonfunctional...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, San Francisco General Hospital, University of California, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA

    Philip J. Rosenthal

Authors
  1. Philip J. Rosenthal
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Correspondence to Philip J. Rosenthal .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Heswall, United Kingdom

    Marcel Hommel

  2. Institut für Tropenmedizin, Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

    Peter G. Kremsner

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Rosenthal, P.J. (2013). Apicoplast Translation, Transcription, and Genome Replication. In: Hommel, M., Kremsner, P. (eds) Encyclopedia of Malaria. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8757-9_28-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8757-9_28-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-8757-9

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