Grammomys surdaster, the Natural Host for Plasmodium berghei Parasites, as a Model to Study Whole-Organism Vaccines Against Malaria.

ABSTRACT: AbstractInbred mice are commonly used to test candidate malaria vaccines, but have been unreliable for predicting efficacy in humans. To establish a more rigorous animal model, we acquired African woodland thicket rats of the genus Grammomys, the natural hosts for Plasmodium berghei. Thicket rats were acquired and identified as Grammomys surdaster by skull and teeth measurements and mitochondrial DNA genotyping. Herein, we demonstrate that thicket rats are highly susceptible to infection by P. berghei, and moderately susceptible to Plasmodium yoelii and Plasmodium chabaudi: 1-2 infected mosquito bites or 25-100 sporozoites administered by intravenous injection consistently resulted in patent parasitemia with P. berghei, and resulted in paten

SUBMITTER: Conteh S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5392629 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature