Commitment Isn't for Everyone

Gabrielle A Josling; Manuel Llinás

doi:10.1016/j.pt.2019.03.012

Commitment Isn't for Everyone

Trends Parasitol. 2019 Jun;35(6):381-383. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2019.03.012. Epub 2019 Apr 30.

Authors

Gabrielle A Josling¹, Manuel Llinás²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA; Huck Center for Malaria Research, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
² Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA; Huck Center for Malaria Research, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA; Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA. Electronic address: manuel@psu.edu.

Abstract

The majority of malaria parasites during human infection are asexual and are unable to be transmitted to mosquitoes. Only sexually differentiated parasites (gametocytes) can be successfully transmitted to complete the lifecycle. In a recent study by Bancells et al. (Nat. Microbiol. 2019;4:144-154), a new route of sexual conversion is identified that does not require a prior round of replication.

Keywords: Plasmodium falciparum; commitment; gametocyte; malaria; sexual stage.

Publication types

Comment

MeSH terms

Animals
Humans
Life Cycle Stages
Malaria*
Parasites*
Plasmodium falciparum
Sexual Development

Grants and funding

R01 AI125565/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/United States