The Incorporation of Radioactivity from [14C] Glucose into the Soluble Metabolic Intermediates of Malaria Parasites *

Abstract

Summary The incorporation of radioactivity from [14C] glucose and [1:4-14C2] succinate into the soluble metabolic intermediates of free Plasmodium berghei and into normal and parasitized mouse blood cells has been studied. The free parasite exhibited a low utilization of the labeled glucose, and the main product of glucose catabolism was lactate. The infected mouse blood cell utilized considerably more glucose than did the normal cell, and the patterns of incorporation of the isotope suggests that the presence of the parasite increased both glycolytic and oxidative reactions. Only trace amounts of radioactivity from the labeled succinate were incorporated into soluble intermediates by free P. berghei, normal mouse blood cells, and parasitized cells.