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Parasite Nutrition

Two graphs show the NHP4026 proportion in different cultures. The left graph plots proportion over eight asexual cycles. AlbuMAX cultures remain relatively stable near 0.8, Serum:Albumin cultures decline steadily from 0.7 to 0.4, and Serum cultures decline sharply from 0.6 to near zero. Two replicates are shown for each culture. The right graph displays the selection coefficient for each culture and replicate. Serum has the highest coefficient around 0.5, Serum:Albumin is intermediate around 0.2, and AlbuMAX is lowest, near zero. Error bars represent variability within replicates.

Many of the assays used for assessing parasite fitness and drug resistance measure parasite growth under a given condition. Given that many frontline antimalarials target the process of hemoglobin catabolism by the parasite, understanding the nutritional requirements of P. falciparum is essential. Our central aim was to understand how different nutrient supplementation sources (human serum vs. AlbuMAX) impact in vitro parasite phenotypes. Using progeny from the NHP4026xNF54 and NHP1337xMKK2835 crosses, we found that competitive fitness outcome significantly changes depending on nutrient supplementation source. Additionally, performing bulk segregant analysis (BSA) in either serum, AlbuMAX, or a mixture of the two revealed several significant loci associated with parasite nutritional requirements.

Publications

Kumar S, Li X, McDew-White M, Reyes A, Delgado E, Sayeed A, Haile MT, Abatiyow BA, Kennedy SY, Camargo N, Checkley LA, Brenneman KV, Button-Simons KA, Duraisingh MT, Cheeseman IH, Kappe SHI, Nosten F, Ferdig MT, Vaughan AM, Anderson TJC. A Malaria Parasite Cross Reveals Genetic Determinants of Plasmodium falciparum Growth in Different Culture Media. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2022 May 30;12:878496. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.878496. PMID: 35711667; PMCID: PMC9197316.