Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T05:54:36.915Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Enrichment and biochemical characterization of Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoite plasmalemma

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 1997

A. RABJEAU ,
F. FOUSSARD ,
G. MAURAS  and
J. F. DUBREMETZ
A. RABJEAU
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Biochimie et Biologie Moléculaire, Faculté de Médecine, 1 rue haute de Reculée, 49045 Angers Cedex, France
F. FOUSSARD
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Biochimie et Biologie Moléculaire, Faculté de Médecine, 1 rue haute de Reculée, 49045 Angers Cedex, France
G. MAURAS
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire, Faculté de Pharmacie, 16 Boulevard Daviers, 49045 Angers Cedex, France
J. F. DUBREMETZ
Affiliation:
Unité INSERM U42 Domaine du Certia, 369 rue J. Guesde, 59650 Villeneuve D'Ascq, France
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii possesses a triple surface membrane called the pellicle. This is made of an outer plasmalemma and an inner membrane complex lying under the plasmalemma. Using a high salt glycerol treatment followed by sonication, we have obtained a partial dissociation of the pellicle. A plasmalemma-enriched fraction was isolated on 0·7M sucrose. It was identified by immunodetection of the tachyzoite major surface antigens. Protein content, resolved by SDS–PAGE, revealed that the surface protein SAG1 is the major component of the plasmalemma. The plasmalemma fraction is made of small vesicles (20–100 nm) which possess a low density (1·085–1·090 g/cm3 in sucrose) contrasting with other eukaryotic plasma membranes (1·12–1·16 g/cm3).

Keywords

Toxoplasma gondiipellicleplasmalemma isolation
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 114 , Issue 5 , May 1997 , pp. 421 - 426
Copyright
1997 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)