Novel secretory pathways in Plasmodium?

The secretion of proteins from intraerythrocytic stages of Plasmodium falci parum into the infected host cell is still poorly understood. A recent prop osal that two distinct, mutually exclusive, secretory compartments may exis t within the parasite cell has received much attention. Denise Mattei, Gary Ward, Gordon Langsley and Klaus Lingelbach here critically discuss the dat a on which this model is based, and then they address a move general questi on: to what extent are unusual aspects of protein secretion in Plasmodium u nique among eukaryotic cells?.