Figures
Stages of Plasmodium egress
This composite image captures Plasmodium falciparum, the causative agent of malaria, when it ruptures its host erythrocyte to release daughter parasites. The parasitophorous vacuolar membrane, within which the parasite resides, is labeled in magenta and exocytic egress-specific vesicles are in cyan. This study observed signal-dependent exocytosis of specific vesicles in live Plasmodium falciparum schizont stage parasites that were undergoing egress from the host erythrocytes. The study showed that the parasite prepares for the release of daughter cells several hours prior to membrane rupture as well as identified a key gene required for egress from the host erythrocyte. Dedkhad et al. 2026
Image Credit: Watcharatip Dedkhad
Citation: (2026) PLoS Pathogens Issue Image | Vol. 22(5) July 2026. PLoS Pathog 22(5): ev22.i05. https://doi.org/10.1371/image.ppat.v22.i05
Published: July 8, 2026
Copyright: © 2026 . This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
This composite image captures Plasmodium falciparum, the causative agent of malaria, when it ruptures its host erythrocyte to release daughter parasites. The parasitophorous vacuolar membrane, within which the parasite resides, is labeled in magenta and exocytic egress-specific vesicles are in cyan. This study observed signal-dependent exocytosis of specific vesicles in live Plasmodium falciparum schizont stage parasites that were undergoing egress from the host erythrocytes. The study showed that the parasite prepares for the release of daughter cells several hours prior to membrane rupture as well as identified a key gene required for egress from the host erythrocyte. Dedkhad et al. 2026
Image Credit: Watcharatip Dedkhad