Fig. 7: Knockdown of PfCERLI2 alters rhoptry length and positioning.

PfCERLI2^HAGlmS schizonts were matured in the presence of E64 and imaged using array tomography. Inverted backscattered images of untreated (a) and GLCN treated (b). PfCERLI2^HAGlmS schizonts. c, d Higher magnification images revealing individual merozoites and associated rhoptry pairs indicated by black arrow heads in (a) and (b). e, f 3D renderings corresponding to the images in (c) and (d). Colour legend: Merozoite plasma membrane, green; nucleus, blue; rhoptries, red. Scale bars: a and b = 4 µm; c–f = 1 µm. Using array tomography, 100 rhoptries for each treatment were analysed to determine their length (g) and surface area (h). PfCERLI2^HAGlmS schizonts were matured in the presence of E64, stained with antibodies against RAP1 (rhoptry bulb) and RON4 (rhoptry neck), and imaged by Airyscan super-resolution microscopy. The flourescence intensity from maximum-intensity projections of RAP1 (i) and RON4 (j) signals were then measured from the basal end of the nucleus. 32 merozoites for untreated and 31 merozoites for 2.5 mM GLCN treated were measured from a total of 12 schizont images across three biological replicates. Representative images corresponding to this data in Supplementary Fig. 13. Error bars = SEM. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ****p < 0.0001 by unpaired t-test.