PF3D7_0929600

G2 (PF3D7_0929600) is a subpellicular network (SPN) protein of Plasmodium zoites that is structurally unrelated to the alveolin family and is required for zoite morphogenesis, gliding motility, and parasite transmission (PMID:23773015). In P. berghei, knockout of the G2 ortholog abolishes transmission, produces malformed zoites with motility defects, and disrupts the ordered arrangement of subpellicular microtubules in sporozoites, while contributing little to the tensile strength of the cortical cytoskeleton — establishing that shape determination and tensile strength are separable properties of the SPN (PMID:23773015). Beyond this single knockout characterization in P. berghei, no further mechanistic detail, binding partners, or biochemical activity for G2 has been characterized in the available corpus.

1. 2013 Medium

   It was unknown whether non-alveolin components contribute to the subpellicular network and how the SPN separately governs zoite shape versus mechanical strength; knockout of G2 established it as a novel, alveolin-independent SPN protein required for morphogenesis, motility, and transmission but not tensile strength.

   Evidence Gene knockout of the G2 ortholog in P. berghei with transmission assays, morphological and motility analysis, tensile strength measurements, and microscopy of subpellicular microtubule arrangement

   PMID:23773015

   Open questions at the time

   • No molecular partners or SPN-anchoring interactions identified for G2
   • No biochemical activity or structural model for G2
   • Not tested in P. falciparum or other Plasmodium species

• How G2 is recruited to and integrated within the subpellicular network, and how it mechanistically directs subpellicular microtubule arrangement and zoite shape, remains unresolved.
• No identified interaction partners linking G2 to microtubules or the SPN scaffold
• No direct biochemical or structural characterization of G2
• Function in the human parasite P. falciparum untested