Mapping Plasmodium transitions and interactions in the Anopheles female
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ABSTRACT:
ORGANISM(S): Anopheles gambiae Plasmodium falciparum
PROVIDER: GSE284537 | GEO | 2025/08/18
REPOSITORIES: GEO
Similar Datasets
Project description:Plasmodium parasites within mosquitoes are exposed to various physiological processes, such as blood meal digestion activity, the gonotrophic cycle, and host responses preventing the entry of parasites into the midgut wall. However, when in vitro-cultured ookinetes are injected into the hemocoel of mosquitoes, Plasmodium parasites are not affected by the vertebrate host’s blood contents and do not pass through the midgut epithelial cells. This infection method might aid in identifying mosquito-derived factors affecting Plasmodium development within mosquitoes. This study investigated novel mosquito-derived molecules related to parasite development in Anopheles mosquitoes. We injected in vitro-cultured Plasmodium berghei (ANKA strain) ookinetes into female and male Anopheles stephensi (STE2 strain) mosquitoes and found that the oocyst number was significantly higher in males than in females, suggesting that male mosquitoes better support the development of parasites. Next, RNA-seq analysis was performed on the injected female and male mosquitoes to identify genes exhibiting changes in expression. Five genes with different expression patterns between sexes and greatest expression changes were identified as being potentially associated with Plasmodium infection. Two of the five genes also showed expression changes with infection by blood-feeding, indicating that these genes could affect the development of Plasmodium parasites in mosquitoes.
2024-05-06 | GSE197159 | GEO
Project description:Background: The mosquito Anopheles gambiae is a major vector of human malaria. Increasing evidence indicates that blood cells (hemocytes) comprise an essential arm of the mosquito innate immune response against both bacteria and malaria parasites. To further characterize the role of hemocytes in mosquito immunity, we undertook the first genome-wide transcriptomic analyses of adult female An. gambiae hemocytes following infection by two species of bacteria and a malaria parasite. Results: We identified 4047 genes expressed in hemocytes, using An. gambiae genome-wide microarrays. While 279 transcripts were significantly enriched in hemocytes relative to whole adult female mosquitoes, 959 transcripts exhibited immune challenge-related regulation. The global transcriptomic responses of hemocytes to challenge with different species of bacteria and/or different stages of malaria parasite infection revealed discrete, minimally overlapping, pathogen-specific signatures of infection-responsive gene expression; 105 of these represented putative immunity-related genes including anti-Plasmodium factors. Of particular interest was the specific co-regulation of various members of the Imd and JNK immune signaling pathways during malaria parasite invasion of the mosquito midgut epithelium. Conclusion: Our genome-wide transcriptomic analysis of adult mosquito hemocytes reveals pathogen-specific signatures of gene regulation and identifies several novel candidate genes for future functional studies. In order to identify hemocyte-specific and immune-responsive transcripts, we first compared transcripts expressed in hemocytes from one day old sugar-fed mosquitoes to transcripts detected in whole mosquitoes of the same age and feeding status. This resulted in identification of the hemocyte-enriched transcriptome. We then compared hemocytes from 1 day old mosquitoes, 1 hour after immune challenge with heat-killed Escherichia coli or Micrococcus luteus, to control female mosquitoes injected with sterile PBS to determine the bacteria challenge responsive transcriptomes. We used heat-killed bacteria in these assays, because our primary interest was in identifying the bacterial responsive transcriptome and to avoid the potentially confounding effects of altered gene expression due to the lethal effects of a systemic infection associated with injection of living bacteria. Lastly, we compared hemocytes from mosquitoes at 24 hours and 19 days after ingestion of a blood meal infected with Plasmodium berghei to mosquitoes of the same age fed a non-infected blood meal to determine the ookinete and sporozoite infection responsive transcriptomes, respectively. This design resulted in a total of five experimental treatments. The following samples are not included in this submission: Hemo E coli vs. hemo unchallenged A Hemo E coli vs. hemo unchallenged B Hemo m luteus vs. hemo unchallenged A Hemo m luteus vs. hemo unchallenged B
2011-10-31 | E-GEOD-33269 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes transmit the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, which causes the majority of fatal malaria cases worldwide. The hematophagous life style defines the mosquito reproductive biology and is exploited by P. falciparum for its own sexual reproduction and transmission. The two main phases of the mosquito reproductive cycle, pre-vitellogenic (PV) and post-blood meal (PBM) shape its capacity to transmit malaria. Transition between these phases is tightly coordinated to ensure homeostasis between mosquito tissues and successful reproduction. One layer of control is provided by microRNAs, well-known regulators of blood meal digestion and egg development in mosquitoes. Here, we report a global overview of tissue-specific miRNA expression during the PV and PBM phases and identify miRNAs regulated during PV to PBM transition. The observed coordinated changes in the expression levels of a set of miRNAs in the energy-storing tissues suggest a role in the regulation of blood meal-induced metabolic changes.
2017-08-25 | GSE103034 | GEO
Project description:A deeper understanding of malaria parasite development inside the Anopheles mosquito may lead to the identification of processes that can be targeted by transmission-blocking interventions. Paraquat (1,1'-dimethyl-4,4'-bipyridylium dichloride) is a potent superoxide-inducing agent that impacts Plasmodium ookinete development, especially at higher concentrations. Compounds like Paraquat can potentially induce an oxidative imbalance in the mosquito midgut during ookinete maturation, essentially super-stressing the parasite leading to the arrested development of ookinetes, the only stage that can invade through a mosquito midgut cell to establish an oocyst infection in the mosquito. The mosquito midgut has evolved to handle the natural production of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS and RNS, respectively) as a result of feeding on blood. The addition of Paraquat to a bloodmeal is expected to induce a cognate response in the midgut to handle the excess ROS/RNS, and high concentrations of this compound can potentially overwhelm the midgut response leading to mosquito death. While several studies have explored the effect of Paraquat on malaria parasites, a fundamental understanding of the mosquito response to this compound remains unknown. Here, we quantified the mosquito midgut proteomic response to a Paraquat-laced sugar meal to understand the intrinsic midgut response (in the absence of a bloodmeal). We then carried out transcriptomic analysis of the mosquito midgut for several antioxidants of the Trx and GSH pathways to compare concordance or discordance between protein and its transcripts during different oxidative stress conditions. Finally, we determined whether the same Trx and GSH pathways are upregulated following infection with either P. falciparum or P. berghei at 24 hrs post-blood feeding, coinciding with the time point for maximal ookinete traversal of the midgut. We discuss the potential selective action of Paraquat on the parasite and the intrinsic tolerance of the mosquito midgut to Paraquat-mediated oxidative stress.
2022-03-01 | PXD008231 | Pride
Project description:Transmission of malaria is dependent on the successful completion of the Plasmodium lifecycle in the Anopheles vector. Major obstacles are encountered in the midgut tissue, where most parasites are killed by the mosquito’s immune system. In the present study, DNA microarray analyses have been used to compare Anopheles gambiae responses to invasion of the midgut epithelium by the ookinete stage of the human pathogen Plasmodium falciparum and the rodent experimental model pathogen P. berghei. Invasion by P. berghei had a more profound impact on the mosquito transcriptome, including a variety of functional gene classes, while P. falciparum elicited a broader immune response at the gene transcript level. Ingestion of human malaria-infected blood lacking invasive ookinetes also induced a variety of immune genes, including several anti-Plasmodium factors. By comparing gene expression patterns between carcassess or guts of mosquitoes that fed on a P. falciparum or P. berghei wt and mosquitoes that fed on invasion incapable strains we gain information on the A. gambiae transcriptional responses to the invading ookinete at 24 hours after feeding. By comparing gene expression patterns between carcassess or guts of mosquitoes that fed on a P. falciparum ookinete invasion incapable strain and mosquitoes that fed on non-infected blood we gain information on the A. gambiae transcriptional responses to malaria infected blood in absence of ookinete invasion at 24 hours after feeding. By comparing gene expression patterns between mosquitoes at 4 hours after being injected with either E. coli or S. aureus and mosquitoes injected with sterile PBS we gain information on the mosquito's transcriptional response to these bacterial challenges.
2007-08-15 | E-GEOD-8789 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Plasmodium ssp. are pathogens in their vertebrate hosts and also cause deleterious effects to their insect vectors. We show here, however, that Plasmodium-infected mosquitoes more efficiently accumulate energy resources (glycogen) during oocyst development, and survive better when they are starved. Microarray analysis revealed that mosquito metabolism is altered by the presence of rapidly growing oocysts in the midgut. Plasmodium infection is associated with enhanced expression of several insulin-like peptides in mosquitoes and blocking insulin-like signaling results in diminished Plasmodium development. We conclude that Plasmodium infection dramatically changes mosquito metabolism pathways, epitomized by enhanced insulin-signaling, and thereby confer a survival advantage to the insects during periods of starvation. Manipulation of this pathway may provide new strategies to influence the ability of mosquitoes to transmit the protozoa that cause malaria.
2011-12-31 | GSE32200 | GEO
Project description:Colonization of the mosquito host by Plasmodium parasites is achieved by sexually differentiated gametocytes. Gametocytogenesis, gamete formation and fertilization are tightly regulated processes, and translational repression is a major regulatory mechanism for stage conversion. Here, we present a characterization of a Plasmodium berghei RNA binding protein, UIS12, that contains two conserved eukaryotic RNA recognition motifs (RRM). Targeted gene deletion results in viable parasites that replicate normally during blood infection, but form fewer gametocytes. Upon transmission to Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes, both numbers and size of midgut-associated oocysts are impaired. As a consequence, no salivary gland sporozoites are formed indicative of a complete life cycle arrest in the mosquito vector. Comparative transcript profiling in mutant and wild-type infected red blood cells revealed downregulation of mRNAs coding for signature gamete-, ookinete- and oocyst-specific proteins in uis12(-) parasites. Together, our findings indicate multiple roles for UIS12 in regulation of gene expression after blood infection in good agreement with the pleiotropic defects that terminate successful sporogony and onward transmission to a new vertebrate host.
2021-03-05 | GSE152686 | GEO
Project description:Plasmodium ssp. are pathogens in their vertebrate hosts and also cause deleterious effects to their insect vectors. We show here, however, that Plasmodium-infected mosquitoes more efficiently accumulate energy resources (glycogen) during oocyst development, and survive better when they are starved. Microarray analysis revealed that mosquito metabolism is altered by the presence of rapidly growing oocysts in the midgut. Plasmodium infection is associated with enhanced expression of several insulin-like peptides in mosquitoes and blocking insulin-like signaling results in diminished Plasmodium development. We conclude that Plasmodium infection dramatically changes mosquito metabolism pathways, epitomized by enhanced insulin-signaling, and thereby confer a survival advantage to the insects during periods of starvation. Manipulation of this pathway may provide new strategies to influence the ability of mosquitoes to transmit the protozoa that cause malaria. One-condition experiment: P. berghei infected vs uninfected mosquitoes; 10 mosquitoes per sample; 4 biological replicates for each group; two different time points, 10 and 17 days post infection; control mosquitoes were from same batch as infected mosquitoes that were fed on clean mice.
2011-12-31 | E-GEOD-32200 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:We report that the mosquito small RNA expression level in mosquitoes following a sugar meal
2022-05-01 | GSE180776 | GEO
Project description:With their genome sequenced, Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes now serve as a powerful tool for basic research in comparative, evolutionary and developmental biology. The knowledge generated by these studies is expected to reveal molecular targets for novel vector control and pathogen transmission blocking strategies. Comparisons of gene-expression profiles between adult male and nonblood-fed female Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes revealed that roughly 22% of the genes showed sex-dependent regulation. Blood-fed females switch the majority of their metabolism to blood digestion and egg formation within 3 h after the meal is ingested, in detriment to other activities such as flight and response to environment stimuli. Changes in gene expression are most evident during the first, second and third days after a blood meal, when as many as 50% of all genes showed significant variation in transcript accumulation. After laying the first cluster of eggs (between 72 and 96 h after the blood meal), mosquitoes return to a nongonotrophic stage, similar but not identical to that of 3-dayold nonblood-fed females. Ageing and/or the nutritional state of mosquitoes at 15 days after a blood meal is reflected by the down-regulation of 5% of all genes. A full description of the large number of genes regulated at each analysed time point and each biochemical pathway or biological processes in which they are involved is not possible within the scope of this contribution. Therefore, we present descriptions of groups of genes displaying major differences in transcript accumulation during the adult mosquito life. However, a publicly available searchable database (Anopheles gambiae Gene Expression Database at UC Irvine) has been made available so that detailed analyses of specific groups of genes based on their descriptions, functions or levels of gene expression variation can be performed by interested investigators according to their needs. Keywords: response to bloodmeal
2007-08-20 | GSE8822 | GEO