Gametocyte Work

Gametocyte production is at the core of all of our crosses, and a deep understanding of this intricate pathways involved in the transition from asexual to sexual stage parasites is necessary. In an attempt to further improve our genetic crosses, we have made significant findings in uncovering the pathways involved in gamete fertilization as well as transmission from human to vector hosts. When choosing parents for a genetic cross, gametocyte production is often a limiting step. We believe that our continued understanding
of the process of gametocytogenesis will allow us to perform genetic crosses with a wider assortment of clinically relevant isolates.

Publications

Kumar S, Abatiyow BA, Haile MT, Oualim KM, Leeb AS, Vaughan AM, Kappe SH. A putative plasmodium RNA-binding protein plays a critical role in female gamete fertility and parasite transmission to the mosquito vector. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology. 2022;10. PMID: 35465336 https://doi.org/10.3389%2Ffcell.2022.825247

Kumar S, Valansi C, Haile MT, Li X, Flyak K, Dwivedy A, Abatiyow BA, Leeb AS, Kennedy SY, Camargo NM, Vaughan AM. Malaria parasites utilize two essential plasma membrane fusogens for gamete fertilization. Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences. 2022 Nov;79(11):549. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-022-04583-w