Toxoplasma gondii establishes an extensive filamentous network consisting of stable F-actin during replication

Abstract

Apicomplexan actin is well conserved and clearly important during the parasite's life cycle. Several studies assert that its polymerization kinetics are unusual, permitting only short, unstable F-actin filaments. However, it has not been possible to study actin in vivo, so its physiological role has remained obscure. This has led to functional models which are mutually conflicting, incompatible with actin behavior from other eukaryotes, and cannot explain actin's importance during basic processes such as parasite replication and egress. Here we use a chromobody that specifically binds F-actin to demonstrate that Toxoplasma forms stable actin filaments in vivo. F-actin is not only important for parasite replication, but also forms an extensive network that connects individuals both within and between parasitophorous vacuoles, and allows vesicles to be exchanged between parasites within a vacuole. During host cell egress, prior to motility, this network collapses in a calcium-dependent manner. This study demonstrates unexpected roles of Toxoplasma actin during the asexual life cycle, and proves that formation of F-actin depends on a critical concentration of G-actin, implying a polymerization mechanism similar to mammalian actin.\n\nOne Sentence SummaryToxoplasma establishes a stable F-actin network that is essential for replication and material transport between individual parasites.