Authors

Discussion

Transition metals such as zinc and iron are essential micronutrients to the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, yet become toxic at high concentrations. Hence, the careful regulation of transition metals is required as the parasite progresses through its complex life cycle. Cation Diffusion Facilitators (CDFs) are a family of membrane transporters that enable the detoxification of transition metal ions from cells. Here we study the sole predicted CDF from the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. Utilising the Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) heterologous expression system, we show that expression of PfCDF in a zinc-sensitive yeast line (Dzrc1cot1) conferred partial zinc tolerance when cultured in zinc-replete conditions. This suggests that PfCDF transports Zn²⁺ out of the cytosol, thus potentially implicating PfCDF as an important mediator of zinc tolerance in the parasite. Additionally, comparisons with functionally characterised CDF homologues suggest that PfCDF features key amino acid residues that could enable the transport and therefore detoxification of iron, in addition to zinc. This hypothesis will form the basis of future study.