Fig 8.

Asexual multiplication rates are not affected by expression of intact or disrupted MSPDBL2. (A) Exponential multiplication rate assays performed over 6 days. Parasite density (log₁₀ scale) is expressed as numbers of genome copies per microliter of a standard volume of extracted DNA at each sampled timepoint, using quantitative PCR. Experiments were performed on three biological replicates of MSPDBL2-TAG and three MSPDBL2 DEL clones, respectively, expressing intact or disrupted MSPDBL2, each being compared to the parental 3D7/iGP line, and 3D7 which is always incorporated as a control (with previously known multiplication rate of approximately eightfold per 48 hours). Each assay was performed in triplicate, using erythrocytes from different blood donors in separate flasks. G418 treatment was performed on cultures of the MSPDBL2-engineered lines for a week prior to assay, so a majority of schizonts would express the respective intact or disrupted MSPDBL2 (as illustrated in Fig. 6), and G418 was not included in the assay as engineered expression of MSPDBL2 remains elevated for at least three cycles after removal (Table S9). (B) Histograms presenting general linear model estimations (with 95% confidence intervals) of the multiplication rates per 48 hours over the duration of the assays. All numerical data are shown in Table S11.