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Review
. 2012 Jan;8(1):e1002404.
doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1002404. Epub 2012 Jan 19.

Sexual development in Plasmodium: lessons from functional analyses

David S Guttery  1 , Anthony A Holder, Rita Tewari
Affiliations
Review

Sexual development in Plasmodium: lessons from functional analyses

David S Guttery et al. PLoS Pathog. 2012 Jan.
No abstract available

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Regulators of gametocytogenesis and the sexual stage of the life cycle.
Differentiation of asexual blood stage parasites into gametocytes occurs in the vertebrate host. Ingestion in a mosquito blood meal results in activation of the gametocytes in the lumen of the gut, stimulated by an increase in Ca2+, a drop in temperature, and the presence of the mosquito-derived xanthurenic acid, leading to the production of male and female gametes. Fertilization and fusion of these gametes results in zygote formation. Eventual elongation of the zygote leads to the final stage of the sexual cycle, a highly motile ookinete. Genes involved at each stage of the process (as suggested by a number of functional analyses) and time spans for each stage are indicated.
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