Identification of gametocyte-associated pir genes in the rodent malaria parasite, Plasmodium chabaudi chabaudi AS

Deirdre A Cunningham; Adam J Reid; Caroline Hosking; Katrien Deroost; Irene Tumwine-Downey; Mandy Sanders; Jean Langhorne

doi:10.1186/s13104-023-06322-1

Identification of gametocyte-associated pir genes in the rodent malaria parasite, Plasmodium chabaudi chabaudi AS

BMC Res Notes. 2023 Apr 19;16(1):56. doi: 10.1186/s13104-023-06322-1.

Authors

Deirdre A Cunningham^#¹, Adam J Reid^#^{2

3}, Caroline Hosking⁴, Katrien Deroost⁴, Irene Tumwine-Downey⁴, Mandy Sanders², Jean Langhorne⁴

Affiliations

¹ The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK. Deirdre.Cunningham@crick.ac.uk.
² Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK.
³ Wellcome/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1QN, UK.
⁴ The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Objective: To analyse the transcriptional profiles of the pir multigene family of Plasmodium chabaudi chabaudi in male and female gametocytes isolated from the blood of infected mice.

Results: Infected red blood cells containing female and male P. chabaudi gametocytes transcribe a distinct set of genes encoded by the multigene family pir. The overall patterns are similar to what has been observed in the close relative P. berghei, but here we show that gametocyte-associated pir genes are distinct from those involved in chronic blood-stage infection and highlight a male-associated pir gene which should be the focus of future studies.

Keywords: Gametocyte; Multigene family; Pir; Plasmodium chabaudi; Transcriptome.

MeSH terms

Animals
Female
Malaria* / parasitology
Male
Mice
Parasites*
Plasmodium chabaudi* / genetics

Abstract

MeSH terms

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