Conserved mosquito/parasite interactions affect development of Plasmodium falciparum in Africa.

ABSTRACT: In much of sub-Saharan Africa, the mosquito Anopheles gambiae is the main vector of the major human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. Convenient laboratory studies have identified mosquito genes that affect positively or negatively the developmental cycle of the model rodent parasite, P. berghei. Here, we use transcription profiling and reverse genetics to explore whether five disparate mosquito gene regulators of P. berghei development are also pertinent to A. gambiae/P. falciparum interactions in semi-natural conditions, using field isolates of this parasite and geographically related mosquitoes. We detected broadly similar albeit not identical transcriptional responses of these genes to the two parasite species. Gene silencing established that two genes affect similarly both para

SUBMITTER: Mendes AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2373770 | biostudies-literature | 2008 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature