malaria parasites

Epidemiological surveys of malaria currently rely on microscopy, polymerase chain reaction assays (PCR) or rapid diagnostic test kits for Plasmodium infections (RDTs). This study investigated whether mid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopy coupled with supervised machine learning could constitute an alternative method for rapid malaria screening, directly from dried human blood spots.

A family of apicomplexa-specific proteins containing AP2 DNA-binding domains (ApiAP2s) was identified in malaria parasites. This family includes sequence-specific transcription factors that are key regulators of development. However, functions for the majority of ApiAP2 genes remain unknown. Here, a systematic knockout screen in Plasmodium berghei identified ten ApiAP2 genes that were essential for mosquito transmission: four were critical for the formation of infectious ookinetes, and three were required for sporogony.

In this work, we describe the volatile chemical profile of cultured malaria parasites. Among the identified compounds are several plant-like terpenes and terpene derivatives, including known mosquito attractants.

We explored the potential of pooled sequencing to swiftly and economically identify selective sweeps due to emerging artemisinin (ART) resistance in a South-East Asian malaria parasite population.

In this study, an expectation maximization algorithm was used to estimate the probabilities of domain-domain interactions (DDIs). Estimates of DDI probabilities were then used to infer PPI probabilities.