Identification of a novel AP2 transcription factor in zygotes with an essential role in Plasmodium ookinete development.

ABSTRACT: The sexual phase of Plasmodium represents a crucial step in malaria transmission, during which these parasites fertilize and form ookinetes to infect mosquitoes. Plasmodium development after fertilization is thought to proceed with female-stored mRNAs until the formation of a retort-form ookinete; thus, transcriptional activity in zygotes has previously been considered quiescent. In this study, we reveal the essential role of transcriptional activity in zygotes by investigating the function of a newly identified AP2 transcription factor, AP2-Z, in P. berghei. ap2-z was previously reported as a female transcriptional regulator gene whose disruption resulted in developmental arrest at the retort stage of ookinetes. In this study, although ap2-z was transcribed in females, we show that it was

SUBMITTER: Nishi T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9394825 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature