Knob and surface topography of mutant cells lines expressing truncated versions of KAHRP. AFM of (A) uninfected (i), 3D7-K119-infected (ii), 3D7-K405-infected (iii), and 3D7-K(re)-infected (iv) red blood cells. The images show a 3-dimensional reconstruction of an area representative of 1 μm on each studied cell line. (B) Analysis of the frequency of a certain height (ii) and diameter (i) of knobs in uninfected (yellow), K119-infected (green), K405-infected (blue), and K(re)-infected (red) erythrocytes. The pre-knobs of K(re)-infected erythrocytes are shown in orange. (C) Surface profile of K(re)-infected red blood cells. Height of knobs was measured along a distance of 1.2 μm on the surface of the cell shown on the left panel (curved line). The pre-knobs are visible as minor peaks (arrowheads).