Mutant/mutation
The mutant lacks expression of the MAP2 protein.

Protein (function)
MAP kinases are serine/threonine protein kinases involved in a variety of functions including cell proliferation.

Phenotype
The mutant produces wild-type levels of gametocytes but complete male gamete formation was inhibited. Male gametogenesis progressed to genome replication but further development was arrested; neither nuclear division nor gamete formation (cytokensis) occurred, resulting in the presence of rounded male gametes with a single, enlarged nucleus. Female gametes could develop to completion and were fertile, as was shown by the formation of ookinetes in cross-fertilization experiments with fertile males of the mutant line P47− (RMgm-348; which produces infertile females). This observation indicates that MAP2 is essential for male gamete formation and is only active after CDPK4 activation (RMgm-12; a mutant lacking expression of CDPK4).

See also the paper by Dorin-Semblat D. et al. (2007, Mol Microbiol 65, 1170-1180) for unsuccessful attempts to knock-out map2 in P. falciparum, indicating that in P. falciparum map2 has an essential function during asexual blood stage development.

Additional information
Disruption of the P. falciparum ortholog has been attempted (Solyakov et al., 2011, Nat Commun, 2:565).
The gene is likely essential for asexual proliferation as integration of the KO vector was not achieved. Accesibility of the locus to recombination was verified by C-terminal tagging.
 

Other mutants
Independent P. berghei map2- mutants (RMgm-63; RMgm-66) have been generated that also lacks MAP2 expression and have essentially the same phenotype.