K. A. Fletcher

Ultrastructural localisation of NADH- and NADPH-dehydrogenases in the erythrocytic stages of the rodent malaria parasite, Plasmodium berghei

Abstract i) NADH- and NADPH-dehydrogenase activity was localised mainly on the concentric-membraned organelles, and to a lesser extent on the limiting membrane, food vacuole membrane and nuclear membrane of erythrocytic trophozoites of P. berghei . ii) NADH-dehydrogenase activity was present in larger amounts in the parasites than NADPH-dehydrogenase. iii) The significance of these enzymes in relation to parasite metabolism is discussed in the light of present knowledge.

An electron cytochemical study of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase activity in infected erythrocytes during malaria

Abstract The distribution of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6-PGD) was examined by an electron microscopic technique in erythrocytes of rodents infected with Plasmodium berghei , chickens with P. gallinaceum and rhesus monkeys with P. knowlesi . Unlike glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, which is restricted to the host erythrocyte, 6-PGD was found to be present in the parasite as well as the host erythrocyte in all infections studied. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the metabolism of malaria parasites.