VIT and malaria: The most virulent malaria parasite of humans [26], Plasmodium falciparum, expresses a 273 amino acid, ~ 31 kDa plant VIT orthologue, named PfVIT, that functions in cytoplasmic iron detoxification by transport of ferrous ions, via Fe2+/H+ exchange, into the endoplasmic reticulum [21, 27].