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- Russell, Andrew J.C., et al.
(författare)
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Regulators of male and female sexual development are critical for the transmission of a malaria parasite
- 2023
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Ingår i: Cell Host and Microbe. - : Cell Press. - 1931-3128 .- 1934-6069. ; 31:2, s. 305-319.e10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Malaria transmission to mosquitoes requires a developmental switch in asexually dividing blood-stage parasites to sexual reproduction. In Plasmodium berghei, the transcription factor AP2-G is required and sufficient for this switch, but how a particular sex is determined in a haploid parasite remains unknown. Using a global screen of barcoded mutants, we here identify genes essential for the formation of either male or female sexual forms and validate their importance for transmission. High-resolution single-cell transcriptomics of ten mutant parasites portrays the developmental bifurcation and reveals a regulatory cascade of putative gene functions in the determination and subsequent differentiation of each sex. A male-determining gene with a LOTUS/OST-HTH domain as well as the protein interactors of a female-determining zinc-finger protein indicate that germ-granule-like ribonucleoprotein complexes complement transcriptional processes in the regulation of both male and female development of a malaria parasite.
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