Affinage · Plasmodium

RAD54

PF3D7_0803400 · DNA repair and recombination protein RAD54, putative

Annotated
2026-09-08
10 papers in source corpus 2 papers cited in narrative 2 extracted findings

Mechanistic narrative

Synthesis pass · prose summary of the discoveries below

PF3D7_0803400 (RAD54) is a stimulator of Rad51-mediated homologous recombination in the double-strand break repair pathway of Plasmodium falciparum (PMID:23631919). In vitro, recombinant PF3D7_0803400 accelerates PfRad51-driven pairing between single-stranded DNA and its homologous linear double-stranded DNA in the presence of 0.5 mM CaCl2, establishing it as a functional accelerant of Rad51-dependent strand exchange (PMID:23631919). Consistent with a DNA repair role, its transcript is upregulated following MMS-induced DNA damage (PMID:23631919, PMID:27033103). Beyond this stimulatory activity in Rad51-mediated strand exchange and its damage-responsive expression, no further mechanistic detail for PF3D7_0803400 has been characterized in the available corpus.

Mechanistic history

Synthesis pass · year-by-year structured walk · 2 steps
  1. 2013 Medium

    Whether P. falciparum encodes a functional Rad54-type factor capable of promoting Rad51-dependent recombination was unresolved; this work showed the gene product directly accelerates Rad51-mediated homologous strand pairing.

    Evidence In vitro DNA strand exchange/pairing assay with recombinant PfRad54 and PfRad51, plus comet assay and expression analysis after MMS damage

    PMID:23631919

    Open questions at the time
    • Single lab and single publication; no reciprocal or independent biochemical confirmation
    • No structural model or ATPase/translocase characterization of the protein reported
    • In vivo requirement of RAD54 for recombination or repair not tested by genetic knockout
  2. 2016 Low

    Whether RAD54 expression is coupled to the parasite's DNA damage response was addressed by profiling transcription after MMS treatment, placing the gene within the induced double-strand break repair program.

    Evidence Genome-wide transcriptional profiling after MMS treatment and genome sequencing of mutator strains

    PMID:27033103

    Open questions at the time
    • Transcriptional evidence only; no direct assay on RAD54 protein and RAD54 is one of many genes profiled
    • Functional consequence of the damage-induced upregulation for RAD54 specifically not established
    • Point mutations were catalogued across DNA repair genes broadly, not shown to affect RAD54 function

Open questions

Synthesis pass · forward-looking unresolved questions
  • Whether PF3D7_0803400 is genetically required for homologous recombination or DSB repair in vivo, and the biochemical basis of its stimulatory activity, remain unresolved.
  • No genetic loss-of-function analysis of RAD54 in the parasite
  • No structural or enzymatic (e.g. ATP-dependent) characterization in the corpus
  • Interaction with Rad51 shown functionally in vitro but not mapped or validated by independent methods

Mechanism profile

Synthesis pass · controlled-vocabulary classification
Partners
PFRAD51

Evidence

Reading pass · 2 per-paper findings extracted from the source corpus
Year Finding Method Journal Conf PMIDs
2013 PF3D7_0803400 (PfRad54) accelerates PfRad51-mediated pairing between single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) and its homologous linear double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) in vitro in the presence of 0.5 mM CaCl2, establishing RAD54 as a functional stimulator of Rad51-dependent homologous strand exchange in P. falciparum. In vitro DNA strand exchange/pairing assay using recombinant proteins; comet assay for in vivo DNA damage; transcript and protein level analysis (upregulation upon MMS-induced DNA damage) mBio Medium 23631919
2016 PF3D7_0803400 (RAD54) transcript is upregulated in P. falciparum in response to MMS-induced DNA damage, consistent with its participation in the double-strand break repair system; additionally, mutator strains Dd2 and W2 fail to induce DNA repair gene expression upon MMS treatment, and genome sequencing identified point mutations in 18 DNA repair genes in these strains (RAD54 included among the broader repair gene set examined). Genome-wide transcriptional profiling (microarray/RNA-seq) after MMS treatment; genome sequencing of mutator strains Scientific reports Low 27033103

Source papers

Stage 0 corpus · 10 papers · ranked by NIH iCite citations
Year Title Journal Citations PMID
1986 Rapid repeated DNA replication during microgametogenesis and DNA synthesis in young zygotes of Plasmodium berghei. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 61 3088783
1987 Plasmodium species: flow cytometry and microfluorometry assessments of DNA content and synthesis. Experimental parasitology 57 2440713
2016 DNA damage regulation and its role in drug-related phenotypes in the malaria parasites. Scientific reports 56 27033103
1968 DNA, RNA , and protein synthesis in erythrocytic forms of Plasmodium knowlesi. The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene 56 4971014
1979 Plasmodium-infected blood cells analyzed and sorted by flow fluorimetry with the deoxyribonucleic acid binding dye 33258 Hoechst. The journal of histochemistry and cytochemistry : official journal of the Histochemistry Society 52 87413
1988 DNA synthesis in gametocytes of Plasmodium falciparum. Parasitology 47 3283664
2005 DNA-[adenine] methylation in lower eukaryotes. Biochemistry. Biokhimiia 42 15948708
1987 From Laveran's discovery to DNA probes: new trends in diagnosis of malaria. Lancet (London, England) 31 2892060
2013 Opposing roles for two molecular forms of replication protein A in Rad51-Rad54-mediated DNA recombination in Plasmodium falciparum. mBio 27 23631919
2025 A Potential Regulatory Network of Selected Human Erythrocytic miRNAs with Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 mRNAs: A Computational Analysis. MicroRNA (Shariqah, United Arab Emirates) 0 39950472