Plasmodium rootlet SFA1 coordinates cell replication, apical polarity and cytoskeletal organisation during sexual development

SFA1 is present in female gametocytes and localizes to the polarity initiation site during zygote-to-ookinete differentiation, but is absent from the male basal body.

• Why it matters: Sexual development in Plasmodium requires coordinated polarity, cytoskeletal remodeling, and nuclear division, yet SFA1’s function in this stage was unclear.
• What they did: The study mapped SFA1 localization across male and female stages, tested sfa1 loss effects on polarity and cytoskeletal organization, and examined links with SFA2 and pellicle-associated proteins.
• The result: sfa1 loss disrupts apical polarity, pellicle organization, and subpellicular microtubules, yielding abnormal immotile ookinetes and a complete loss of parasite transmission.

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