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Identification of Three Novel Plasmodium Factors Involved in Ookinete to Oocyst Developmental Transition
Plasmodium falciparum malaria remains a major cause of global morbidity and mortality, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. The numbers of new malaria cases and deaths have been stable in the last years despite intense efforts for disease elimination, highlighting the need for new approaches to stop diseas...
Autores principales: | , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8005625/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33791240 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2021.634273 |
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author | Ukegbu, Chiamaka V. Christophides, George K. Vlachou, Dina |
author_facet | Ukegbu, Chiamaka V. Christophides, George K. Vlachou, Dina |
author_sort | Ukegbu, Chiamaka V. |
collection | PubMed |
description | Plasmodium falciparum malaria remains a major cause of global morbidity and mortality, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. The numbers of new malaria cases and deaths have been stable in the last years despite intense efforts for disease elimination, highlighting the need for new approaches to stop disease transmission. Further understanding of the parasite transmission biology could provide a framework for the development of such approaches. We phenotypically and functionally characterized three novel genes, PIMMS01, PIMMS57, and PIMMS22, using targeted disruption of their orthologs in the rodent parasite Plasmodium berghei. PIMMS01 and PIMMS57 are specifically and highly expressed in ookinetes, while PIMMS22 transcription starts already in gametocytes and peaks in sporozoites. All three genes show strong phenotypes associated with the ookinete to oocyst transition, as their disruption leads to very low numbers of oocysts and complete abolishment of transmission. PIMMS22 has a secondary essential function in the oocyst. Our results enrich the molecular understanding of the parasite-vector interactions and identify PIMMS01, PIMMS57, and PIMMS22 as new targets of transmission blocking interventions. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8005625 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-80056252021-03-30 Identification of Three Novel Plasmodium Factors Involved in Ookinete to Oocyst Developmental Transition Ukegbu, Chiamaka V. Christophides, George K. Vlachou, Dina Front Cell Infect Microbiol Cellular and Infection Microbiology Plasmodium falciparum malaria remains a major cause of global morbidity and mortality, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. The numbers of new malaria cases and deaths have been stable in the last years despite intense efforts for disease elimination, highlighting the need for new approaches to stop disease transmission. Further understanding of the parasite transmission biology could provide a framework for the development of such approaches. We phenotypically and functionally characterized three novel genes, PIMMS01, PIMMS57, and PIMMS22, using targeted disruption of their orthologs in the rodent parasite Plasmodium berghei. PIMMS01 and PIMMS57 are specifically and highly expressed in ookinetes, while PIMMS22 transcription starts already in gametocytes and peaks in sporozoites. All three genes show strong phenotypes associated with the ookinete to oocyst transition, as their disruption leads to very low numbers of oocysts and complete abolishment of transmission. PIMMS22 has a secondary essential function in the oocyst. Our results enrich the molecular understanding of the parasite-vector interactions and identify PIMMS01, PIMMS57, and PIMMS22 as new targets of transmission blocking interventions. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-03-15 /pmc/articles/PMC8005625/ /pubmed/33791240 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2021.634273 Text en Copyright © 2021 Ukegbu, Christophides and Vlachou http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
spellingShingle | Cellular and Infection Microbiology Ukegbu, Chiamaka V. Christophides, George K. Vlachou, Dina Identification of Three Novel Plasmodium Factors Involved in Ookinete to Oocyst Developmental Transition |
title | Identification of Three Novel Plasmodium Factors Involved in Ookinete to Oocyst Developmental Transition |
title_full | Identification of Three Novel Plasmodium Factors Involved in Ookinete to Oocyst Developmental Transition |
title_fullStr | Identification of Three Novel Plasmodium Factors Involved in Ookinete to Oocyst Developmental Transition |
title_full_unstemmed | Identification of Three Novel Plasmodium Factors Involved in Ookinete to Oocyst Developmental Transition |
title_short | Identification of Three Novel Plasmodium Factors Involved in Ookinete to Oocyst Developmental Transition |
title_sort | identification of three novel plasmodium factors involved in ookinete to oocyst developmental transition |
topic | Cellular and Infection Microbiology |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8005625/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33791240 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2021.634273 |
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