Microneme

Quality 0.50 · 2 views · Updated 2 months ago

Secretory organelles

title: "Microneme" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["parasitology"] description: "Secretory organelles" topic_path: "general/parasitology" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microneme" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Secretory organelles ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Parasite140105-fig3_Toxoplasmosis_in_a_bar-shouldered_dove_-_TEM_of_2_tachyzoites.tif" caption="pmc=4236686}} {{open access}} '''Micronemes: mn''' (click to enlarge)"] ::

Micronemes are secretory organelles, possessed by parasitic apicomplexans. Micronemes are located on the apical third of the protozoan body. They are surrounded by a typical unit membrane. On electron microscopy they have an electron-dense matrix due to the high protein content. They are specialized secretory organelles important for host-cell invasion and gliding motility.

These organelles secrete several proteins such as the Plasmodium falciparum apical membrane antigen-1, or PfAMA1, and Erythrocyte family antigen, or EBA, family proteins. These proteins specialize in binding to erythrocyte surface receptors and facilitating erythrocyte entry. Only by this initial chemical exchange can the parasite enter into the erythrocyte via actin-myosin motor complex.

It has been posited that this organelle works cooperatively with its counterpart organelle, the rhoptry, which also is a secretory organelle. It is possible that, while the microneme initiates erythrocyte-binding, the rhoptry secretes proteins to create the PVM, or the parasitophorous vacuole membrane, in which the parasite can survive and reproduce.

References

References

  1. (2014). "Toxoplasmosis in a bar-shouldered dove (''Geopelia humeralis'') from the Zoo of Clères, France". Parasite.
  2. (September 2000). "Lytic cycle of Toxoplasma gondii". Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews.
  3. (June 1998). "The parasitophorous vacuole membrane surrounding Plasmodium and Toxoplasma: an unusual compartment in infected cells". Journal of Cell Science.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

parasitology