PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Mohammad Zeeshan
AU  - Rajan Pandey
AU  - David J.P. Ferguson
AU  - Eelco C. Tromer
AU  - Robert Markus
AU  - Steven Abel
AU  - Declan Brady
AU  - Emilie Daniel
AU  - Rebecca Limenitakis
AU  - Andrew R. Bottrill
AU  - Karine G. Le Roch
AU  - Anthony A. Holder
AU  - Ross F. Waller
AU  - David S. Guttery
AU  - Rita Tewari
TI  - Real-time dynamics of <em>Plasmodium</em> NDC80 reveals unusual modes of chromosome segregation during parasite proliferation
AID  - 10.1101/767830
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 767830
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/05/12/767830.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/05/12/767830.full
AB  - Eukaryotic cell proliferation requires chromosome replication and precise segregation to ensure daughter cells have identical genomic copies. The genus Plasmodium, the causative agent of malaria, displays remarkable aspects of nuclear division throughout its lifecycle to meet some peculiar and unique challenges of DNA replication and chromosome segregation. The parasite undergoes atypical endomitosis and endoreduplication with an intact nuclear membrane and intranuclear mitotic spindle. To understand these diverse modes of Plasmodium cell division, we have studied the behaviour and composition of the outer kinetochore NDC80 complex, a key part of the mitotic apparatus that attaches the centromere of chromosomes to microtubules of the mitotic spindle. Using NDC80-GFP live-cell imaging in Plasmodium berghei we observe dynamic spatiotemporal changes during proliferation, including highly unusual kinetochore arrangements during sexual stages. We identify a very divergent candidate for the SPC24 subunit of the NDC80 complex, previously thought to be missing in Plasmodium, which completes a canonical, albeit unusual, NDC80 complex structure. Altogether, our studies reveal the kinetochore as an ideal tool to investigate the non-canonical modes of chromosome segregation and cell division in Plasmodium.Summary Statement The dynamic localization of kinetochore marker NDC80 protein complex during proliferative stages of the malaria parasite life cycle reveals unique modes of chromosome segregation.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.