Extended Data Fig. 1: The apical complex and apical vesicle of P. falciparum merozoites.
(a) Simplified schematic of a P. falciparum merozoite apical region. (b–d) 2-D slices through a tomogram of a top-down view of the merozoite apical complex with color overlays of all the observed apical end components: apical vesicle (AV; pink), parasite plasma membrane (PPM; blue), rhoptry (orange), rhoptry secretory apparatus (RSA; light blue), microneme (yellow), inner membrane complex (IMC; green), preconoidal rings (brown), apical polar ring (purple), and subpellicular microtubules (cyan). The cross-sectional planes used in b-d are arranged such that they start at the parasite apex and move inwards into the cell. Scale bar = 100 nm. (e, f) Additional examples of 2-D slices of the AV and rhoptry (left). Blue and orange lines across the AV and rhoptry, respectively, denote the locations of pixel values plotted on the right. Arrows in the pixel plots point to peaks in values corresponding to membranes. Scale bars = 50 nm.
