Fig. 2: Autocatalytic processing of PM X is not required for parasite replication and substrate cleavage.

a The parental PM X^apt parasites or PM X^apt parasites expressing the indicated PM X as a second copy were grown either in the presence or absence of aTc for 96 h. The starting parasitemia was 1% across different samples. Shown are the final parasitemia percentages after 2 erythrocytic cycles, normalized to that of the PM X^apt parasites grown in the presence of aTc for 96 h. Mean values from three independent experiments are shown and error bars represent standard deviations. Data were analyzed statistically by two-tailed Student’s t test. ***p = 0.00002. b The parasite lines from a were MACS synchronized for 3 h and were grown for the next 45 h either in the presence or absence of aTc. Parasites were then harvested and whole cell lysates were prepared. Western blots were performed to detect the expression of the second copy PM X-GFP (top panel), endogenous PM X-FLAG (second panel), AMA1 (third panel) and SUB1 (bottom panel). On the right is the PM X^apt line without second-copy PM X expression. The antibodies used and the specific molecular weights of the different processed forms of proteins are indicated. This experiment was repeated two times and shown is a representative blot. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.