Protein landscape of the chromatin domains in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum

However, a comprehensive overview of the molecular framework of chromatin-mediated regulation, particularly in non-model organisms, is lacking. Here, we present a systematic proteomic characterization of the chromatin domains in P. falciparum, an ancient human pathogen with unique genome composition and epigenetic blueprint.

We adapted and systematically employed three proximity-labelling approaches to provide a high-confidence and comprehensive proteome of heterochromatin, euchromatin and (peri)centromeric chromatin comprised of 214 proteins, including both expected and new chromatin components. Characterization of 20 proteins validated our approach and i) uncovered a protein influencing parasite transmission, ii) defined complexes relevant for histone variant exchange and chromatin-RNA interactions and iii) provided evidence for the so far believed to be absent spindle assembly checkpoint and the corresponding Bub1-like kinase.