Fig. 5. Asynchronous nuclear cycles facilitate rapid parasite proliferation.
(A) Time-lapse microscopy of a parasite with synchronous DNA replication events (arrowheads); scale bar, 2 μm; see movie S6. (B) Fraction of parasites with completely, partially, and not overlapping S2,1 and S2,2. (C) Durations of S-phases increased with the degree of temporal overlap; solid lines, median; dashed lines, quartiles; two-sided Mann-Whitney U test, no versus partial overlap, f = 0.28, n1 = 44, n2 = 42, P = 2.7 × 10−4; partial versus complete overlap, f = 0.10, n1 = 42, n2 = 24, P = 5.9 × 10−8. (D) Nuclear cycles containing synchronous S-phases were longer; solid lines, median; dashed lines, quartiles; no versus partial overlap, f = 0.36, n1 = 41, n2 = 23, P = 0.07; partial versus complete overlap, f = 0 .27, n1 = 23, n2 = 26, P = 0.0067. ns, not significant; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001.