Abstract
Apicomplexa are obligate intracellular parasites responsible for major human diseases. Their intracellular survival relies on intense lipid synthesis, which fuels membrane biogenesis. Parasite lipids are generated as an essential combination of fatty acids scavenged from the host and de novo synthesized within the parasite apicoplast. The molecular and metabolic mechanisms allowing regulation and channeling of these fatty acid fluxes for intracellular parasite survival are currently unknown. Here, we identify an essential phosphatidic acid phosphatase in Toxoplasma gondii , Tg LIPIN, as the central metabolic nexus responsible for controlled lipid synthesis sustaining parasite development. Lipidomics reveal that Tg LIPIN controls the synthesis of diacylglycerol and levels of phosphatidic acid that regulates the fine balance of lipids between storage and membrane biogenesis. Using fluxomic approaches, we uncover the first parasite host-scavenged lipidome and show that Tg LIPIN prevents parasite death by ‘lipotoxicity’ through effective channeling of host-scavenged fatty acids to storage triacylglycerols and membrane phospholipids.