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Encyclopedia of Malaria pp 1–13Cite as

Translation and Its Control

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Synonyms

Protein translation; Stress granules; Translational repression

Definition

Translation is the process of protein synthesis. The information encoded by a messenger RNA in the form of triplet codons is read and used to build a growing amino acid chain by the ribosome – a large ribonucleoprotein containing RNA and protein constituents; the individual amino acids during protein synthesis are provided by transfer RNAs. In eukaryotic cells like the protozoan Plasmodium, protein translation takes place in the cytosol. It is foremost dependent on the availability of mRNA templates previously transcribed in the nucleus but can also be regulated at the RNA level and globally in processes referred to as posttranscriptional gene regulation.

Introduction

The unicellular malaria parasite has a complex life cycle. Humans become infected during the bite of a mosquito when sporozoites are injected into the skin. After reaching a blood vessel, they are transported to the liver. Here the initial...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Heidelberg Medical School, Im Neuenheimer Feld 326, Heidelberg, Germany

    Gunnar R. Mair

  2. Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Professor Egas Moniz, Lisbon, Portugal

    Gunnar R. Mair

Authors
  1. Gunnar R. Mair
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gunnar R. Mair .

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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Mair, G.R. (2013). Translation and Its Control. In: Hommel, M., Kremsner, P. (eds) Encyclopedia of Malaria. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8757-9_75-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8757-9_75-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-8757-9

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