Project description:The transcriptional profile of Anopheles arabiensis collected from a pyrethroid resistant area on Pemba Island collected in 2011 was compared to that of a lab susceptible colony of Anopheles arabiensis (MOZ).
Project description:The transcriptional profile of pyrethroid resistant Anopheles arabiensis from Zanzibar. Anopheles arabiensis from Pemba Island, exposed (Survivors) and non-exposed (Pemba) to a discriminating dose of the pyrethroid lambda-cyhalothrin were compared to two insecticide susceptible strains from Zanzibar island (Unguja) and Dar es Salaam (Dar).
Project description:Many eukaryotic developmental and cell fate decisions are effected post-transcriptionally that mechanistically involve RNA binding proteins as regulators of translation of key mRNAs. In the unicellular eukaryote malaria parasite, Plasmodium, one of the most dramatic changes in cell morphology and function occurs during transmission between mosquito and human host. In the mosquito salivary glands, Plasmodium sporozoites are slender, motile and remain infectious for several weeks; only after transmission and liver cell invasion, does the parasite rapidly transform into a round, non-motile exo-erythrocytic form (EEF) that gives rise to thousands of infectious merozoites to be released into the blood stream. Here we demonstrate a Plasmodium homolog of the RNA binding protein, Pumilio, as a key regulator of the sporozoite to EEF transformation. In the absence of Pumilio-2 (Puf2) Plasmodium berghei sporozoites initiate early stage EEF development inside mosquito salivary glands with characteristic morphological changes; puf2- salivary gland sporozoites lose gliding motility, cell traversal ability and are less infective. Global expression profiling confirmed that transgenic parasites exhibit genome-wide transcriptional adaptations typical for Plasmodium intra-hepatic development. The data demonstrate that Puf2 is a key player in regulating developmental control, and imply that transformation of salivary gland-resident sporozoites into early liver stage parasites is regulated by a post-translational mechanism.
Project description:Transcriptional profiling of three Anopeheles arabiensis strains: (i) DDT resistant mosquitoes from the city of Bobo Dioulasso (ii) mosquitoes from Bobo Dioulasso not exposed to DDT (iii) a laboratory DDT-susceptible strain.
Project description:Plasmodium sporozoites are injected, in addition to saliva, into animal hosts when a female Anopheles mosquito takes a blood meal. The molecular components of saliva that interact with Plasmodium during this process are poorly characterized. Here we collected Plasmodium sporozoites directly from salivating Anopheles mosquitoes and looked for the presence of vector proteins that could be interacting with the parasites during transmission for further characterization.