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CTRP is essential for mosquito infection by malaria ookinetes
Author(s) -
Dessens Johannes T.,
Beetsma Annette L.,
Dimopoulos George,
Wengelnik Kai,
Crisanti Andrea,
Kafatos Fotis C.,
Sinden Robert E.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
the embo journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 7.484
H-Index - 392
eISSN - 1460-2075
pISSN - 0261-4189
DOI - 10.1093/emboj/18.22.6221
Subject(s) - biology , microneme , midgut , malaria , plasmodium (life cycle) , vector (molecular biology) , immune system , parasite hosting , anopheles , circumsporozoite protein , gametocyte , plasmodium berghei , intestinal epithelium , virology , microbiology and biotechnology , immunology , plasmodium falciparum , epithelium , gene , genetics , apicomplexa , ecology , larva , world wide web , computer science , recombinant dna
The malaria parasite suffers severe population losses as it passes through its mosquito vector. Contributing factors are the essential but highly constrained developmental transitions that the parasite undergoes in the mosquito midgut, combined with the invasion of the midgut epithelium by the malaria ookinete (recently described as a principal elicitor of the innate immune response in the Plasmodium ‐infected insect). Little is known about the molecular organization of these midgut‐stage parasites and their critical interactions with the blood meal and the mosquito vector. Elucidation of these molecules and interactions will open up new avenues for chemotherapeutic and immunological attack of parasite development. Here, using the rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei , we identify and characterize the first microneme protein of the ookinete: circumsporozoite‐ and TRAP‐related protein (CTRP). We show that transgenic parasites in which the CTRP gene is disrupted form ookinetes that have reduced motility, fail to invade the midgut epithelium, do not trigger the mosquito immune response, and do not develop further into oocysts. Thus, CTRP is the first molecule shown to be essential for ookinete infectivity and, consequently, mosquito transmission of malaria.