Figure 4

Proposed model of glucose and glutamine metabolism in Plasmodium falciparum asexual and gametocyte stages. P. falciparum asexual and gametocyte stages catabolize host glucose and glutamine in mitochondria via the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. The major carbon fluxes around the TCA cycle in the asexual stages are driven by input of carbon skeletons derived from glutamine. In gametocytes, carbon skeletons derived from glucose (pyruvate, oxaloacetic acid) drive the major flux. Label incorporation from ¹³C-glutamine suggested that γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) synthesized from exogenous and endogenous glutamate may participate in transamination reactions in the mitochondrion (dotted lines). Abbreviations: αKG, α-ketoglutarate; Ala, alanine; GABA, γ-aminobutyric acid; Glu, glutamate; OAA, oxaloacetate; SSA, succinic semi-aldehyde.