Figure 7. Depletion of AC9 and AC10 caused major cytoskeletal defects.

(A and B) Freshly egressed parasites were extracted with DOC on gelatin coverslips. In AC9 and AC10 depleted parasites the microtubular cytoskeleton collapsed and only single microtubules can be visualized. (C) U-ExM confirmed that parasites depleted of AC9 and AC10 presented an enlarged apical opening while the microtubular cytoskeleton presented major structural defects. (D) Quantification of the phenotypical defects displayed in panel (C). Two independent preparations show statistically significant differences between the WT group and the AC9/+IAA and AC10/+IAA groups for each of the three categories (normal, open ring, major cytoskeletal defects). Chi2 tests, standardized deviation from expected values and Fisher’s test were performed to ensure the statistical differences between each categories of the WT group versus AC9/+IAA or AC10/+IAA groups. (Figure 7—source data 1) (E) Measure of the area of the apical polar ring show statistically significant differences between the three groups. A non-parametric test (ANOVA) was performed to ensure statistical significance. Tukey all pairs comparison test was used to assess significance between groups (p-values are shown on the figure) (Figure 7—source data 2) (F) AC9 depletion caused the loss of pre-conoidal rings while the peripheral annuli were not compromised. Scale bars = 2 µm.

Figure 7—figure supplement 1. Structural defects upon depletion of AC9 and AC10.

(A) In rare cases, shorter treatment with DOC (deoxycholate) did not result in cytoskeleton collapsing but the absence of the apical polar ring and the conoid can be easily observed in IAA treated parasites. (B) Additional images of cytoskeletal structural defects in absence of AC9 and AC10. Scale bars = 2 µm.