Figure 4: Membrane transport and asexual development in P. falciparum. A) Merozoite invasion. Schizont-infected erythrocytes lyse to produce fully invasive merozoites. The contents of the apical complex is discharged to invade new cells The RESA protein is released from dense granules into the to the cytosol. Rhoptry proteins may also be released. After invasion, the apical organelles are disorganized and no longer detected in the infected erythrocyte. B) Protein and membrane export in a ring- or trophozoite-infected erythrocyte. The parasite´s plasma membrane (PPM) is surrounded by a parasitophorous vacuolar membrane (PVM), connecting with the tubovesicular membrane (TVM) and the erythrocyte membrane (EM). Late ring- and trophozoite-stage parasites contain a prominent digestive food vacuole (Dv). N: Nucleus; V: Vesicle delivered to the PPM; X: Vesicle targeted to the joint PPM-PVM domain; M: A rhoptry protein; R: A protein delivered to the dense granules; T: A integral membrane to the PVM and the TVM; P: A soluble protein of the lumen of the PVM and the TVM (such as Pf126); G: A soluble parasite protein (such as the glycophorinbinding protein 130) targeted for the intraerythrocytic space; Y: A integral membrane protein of the PPM.