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Malaria parasites of the genus\n                    <jats:italic>Plasmodium<\/jats:italic>\n                    , however, lack identifiable orthologues of mTOR kinase and its associated signaling complexes, raising the question of how these organisms coordinate environmental sensing with developmental progression and proliferation. Here, we discuss emerging evidence suggesting that\n                    <jats:italic>Plasmodium<\/jats:italic>\n                    has evolutionarily replaced the canonical mTOR signaling axis with a distributed regulatory architecture composed of parasite\u2010specific nutrient sensors, kinase\u2010based signaling pathways, translational repression mechanisms, and unconventional autophagy processes. Components such as KIN, PI3K, eIF2\u03b1 kinases, eIF4E\u2010interacting protein DOZI, and Maf1 collectively preserve many hallmark outputs of mTOR signaling, including metabolic adaptation, stress tolerance, developmental plasticity, and reversible quiescence. In addition, malaria parasites interact with host mTOR pathways during infection, potentially exploiting host\u2010derived anabolic signaling environments to support intracellular development. These findings suggest that\n                    <jats:italic>Plasmodium<\/jats:italic>\n                    exemplifies an extreme case of signaling plasticity in eukaryotic evolution, demonstrating how essential mTOR\u2010associated functions can be maintained despite the apparent loss of the pathway itself.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1111\/mmi.70123","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,12]],"date-time":"2026-10-12T04:56:38Z","timestamp":1791780998000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Nutrient Sensing and Growth Control in\n                    <i>Plasmodium<\/i>\n                    : Beyond\n                    <scp>mTOR<\/scp>\n                    Signaling"],"prefix":"10.1111","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-6920-6914","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Felix","family":"M\u00fcller","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Cellular and Applied Infection Biology, Institute of Biology II RWTH Aachen University  Aachen Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2264-5558","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gabriele","family":"Pradel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Cellular and Applied Infection Biology, Institute of Biology II RWTH Aachen University  Aachen Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_15_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/mmi.14441"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598\u2010025\u201001397\u20101"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/1471\u20102164\u201012\u2010478"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1209823109"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/sciadv.abe5396"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.csbj.2022.07.003"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cell.2016.07.055"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1099\/mic.0.049023\u20100"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_10_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7554\/eLife.80813"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_11_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467\u2010021\u201023919\u2010x"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_12_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467\u2010024\u201055413\u20105"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_13_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/1475\u20102875\u20108\u201099"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_14_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/srep05829"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_15_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nmicrobiol.2017.17"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_16_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nature01097"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_17_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1462\u20105822.2011.01745.x"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_18_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.celrep.2019.02.085"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_19_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.biochem.7b00416"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_20_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/msphere.00341\u201026"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_21_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41420\u2010018\u20100107\u20109"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_22_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41420\u2010023\u201001401\u20105"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_23_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1074\/jbc.M312855200"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_24_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/pmic.201400508"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_25_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467\u2010023\u201036084\u20100"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_26_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41580\u2010019\u20100199\u2010y"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_27_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.0601876103"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_28_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7554\/eLife.56773"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_29_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1125129"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_30_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.ppat.1000767"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_31_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nature23009"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_32_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s42003\u2010023\u201004566\u2010y"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_33_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1182\/blood\u20102005\u201011\u2010026963"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_34_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nature14412"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_35_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/mBio.02317\u201016"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_36_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467\u2010024\u201048140\u20104"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_37_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/mbio.02735\u201024"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_38_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/aac.01529\u201021"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_39_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41392\u2010023\u201001608\u2010z"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_40_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1074\/jbc.M504523200"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_41_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1074\/jbc.M109.017988"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_42_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0033845"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_43_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.ppat.1012823"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_44_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pt.2014.02.001"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_45_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cell.2017.02.004"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_46_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s42003\u2010024\u201007242\u2010x"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_47_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s42003\u2010025\u201009057\u2010w"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_48_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/ncomms1558"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_49_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.ppat.1006094"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_50_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1423959112"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_51_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.gene.2013.03.063"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_52_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/ec.00124\u201010"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_53_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1074\/jbc.M601914200"},{"key":"e_1_2_15_54_1","doi-asserted-by":"p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