Distinct Prominent Roles for Enzymes of Plasmodium berghei Heme Biosynthesis in Sporozoite and Liver Stage Maturation

Malarial parasites have evolved complex regulation of heme supply and disposal to adjust to heme-rich and -deprived host environments. In addition to its own pathway for heme biosynthesis, Plasmodium likely harbors mechanisms for heme scavenging from host erythrocytes. Elaborate compartmentalization of de novo heme synthesis into three subcellular locations, including the vestigial plastid organelle, indicates critical roles in life cycle progression. In this study, we systematically profile the essentiality of heme biosynthesis by targeted gene deletion of enzymes in early steps of this pathway. We show that disruption of endogenous heme biosynthesis leads to a first detectable defect in oocyst maturation and sporogony in the Anopheles vector, whereas blood stage propagation, colonization of mosquito midguts, or initiation of oocyst development occurs indistinguishably from that of wild-type parasites. Although sporozoites are produced by parasites lacking an intact pathway for heme biosynthesis, they are absent from mosquito salivary glands, indicative of a vital role for heme biosynthesis only in sporozoite maturation. Rescue of the first defect in sporogony permitted analysis of potential roles in liver stages. We show that liver stage parasites benefit from but do not strictly depend upon their own aminolevulinic acid synthase and that they can scavenge aminolevulinic acid from the host environment. Together, our experimental genetics analysis of Plasmodium enzymes for heme biosynthesis exemplifies remarkable shifts between the use of endogenous and host resources during life cycle progression.