Growth of the parasites was monitored over two continuous asexual replication cycles with Giemsa-stained thin smears prepared from in vitro cultures every 48 hours. Microscopic enumeration of parasitemias indicated that Pfeb1− parasites grow similarly to WT PfNF54 parasites : defect in nuclear segregation during microgametogenesis - Strikingly, however, examination of free microgametes for WT PfNF54 and Pfeb1− parasites for DNA staining revealed that the majority of Pfeb1− microgametes were DAPI negative