A Rain of Publications!

Our group has had a remarkably productive season! Following Dr. Simon Gras’ recent PLOS Biology paper, three additional studies from Dr. Elena Jimenez-Ruiz and Prof. Markus Meissner have been accepted or published.

Just accepted in Nature Communications, Dr. Wei Li—a former PhD student now leading her own lab in Chengdu (Sichuan Agricultural University)—reveals how two essential proteins, CGP and ASAF1, orchestrate the stepwise assembly of the Toxoplasma gondii conoid complex, a key structure for parasite motility and invasion.

A second study, published in Journal of Cell Biology, led by Dr. Janessa Grech, uncovers the role of Tepsin and the AP4 adaptor complex in directing vesicle trafficking from the Golgi to the parasite’s plant-like vacuole — read the paper here

Finally, a collaboration with Prof. Friedrich Frischknecht (Heidelberg) accepted for publication in Microbial Cell demonstrates that luminal α-tubulin acetylation is not essential for Toxoplasma or Plasmodium survival, pointing to unexpected plasticity in parasite cytoskeletal regulation.

Together, these studies highlight the diversity and impact of our research on the molecular machinery driving parasite organization, motility, and intracellular life.