Refractoriness of erythrocytes infected with Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes to lysis by sorbitol.

Unlike erythrocytes infected with mature asexual parasites of Plasmodium falciparum, those infected with gametocytes are not lysed by 5% sorbitol solutions. This observation was used to devise a method for producing synchronized cultures of gametocytes, free of asexual stage parasites. The refractoriness to sorbitol suggests that the major anion transport pathway, which appears in the membrane of erythrocytes infected with asexual stage parasites, is not present in cells infected with gametocytes.