Comparative transcriptomics of female and male gametocytes in Plasmodium berghei and the evolution of sex in alveolates.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The clinical symptoms of malaria are caused by the asexual replication of Plasmodium parasites in the blood of the vertebrate host. To spread to new hosts, however, the malaria parasite must differentiate into sexual forms, termed gametocytes, which are ingested by a mosquito vector. Sexual differentiation produces either female or male gametocytes, and involves significant morphological and biochemical changes. These transformations prepare gametocytes for the rapid progression to gamete formation and fertilisation, which occur within 20 min of ingestion. Here we present the transcriptomes of asexual, female, and male gametocytes in P. berghei, and a comprehensive statistically-based differential-expression analysis of the transcriptional changes that underpin this sexu

SUBMITTER: Yeoh LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5604118 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature