About fifteen years ago, an organelle limited by four membranes inside the cells of Plasmodium and Toxoplasma was shown to be a chloroplast relic.

Members of our laboratory, focus their research on the questions of glycerolipid syntheses in plant cells, the traffic of lipids between membrane organelles and the lipid remodeling occurring in different physiological contexts or in response to environmental variations. This team evaluated how knowledge gained in plant cells could be transferred to parasitic models and exploited to develop novel anti-malaria treatments. A review, written in collaboration, summarizes our understanding of the sophisticated evolution of these pathogens of the Apicomplexa phylum and briefly covers a decade of research and development of drug candidates targeting parasites at the level of their plant organelle.

15 years after the discovery of the apicoplast and 10 years after the publication of the complete genome sequence of Plasmodium falciparum, it seems that we have completed a first round of investigation and evaluation of available antibiotics and herbicides, and that lessons can be deduced for future attempts.