A freeze-fracture study on the parasite-erythrocyte interrelationship in Plasmodium knowlesi infections.

Freeze-fracture studies were made on the parasite and the erythrocyte in P. knowlesi infections. There is a loss of transmembrane integral proteins from the plasma membrane of the schizont-infected erythrocyte and the intraerythrocytic parasite synthesizes new transmembrane proteins as development proceeds. Formation of the parasitophorous vacuole includes changes in the number of integral proteins present in the vacuolar membrane, indicating that this membrane may be modified by and in part derived from the parasite.