Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
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

PubMed Disclaimer

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.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Baker DA. Malaria gametocytogenesis. Mol Biochem Parasitol. 2010;172:57–65. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bousema T, Drakeley C. Epidemiology and infectivity of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax gametocytes in relation to malaria control and elimination. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2011;24:377–410. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ramiro RS, Alpedrinha J, Carter L, Gardner A, Reece SE. Sex and death: the effects of innate immune factors on the sexual reproduction of malaria parasites. PLoS Pathog. 2011;7:e1001309. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1001309. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Alano P. Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes: still many secrets of a hidden life. Mol Microbiol. 2007;66:291–302. - PubMed
    1. Aly AS, Vaughan AM, Kappe SH. Malaria parasite development in the mosquito and infection of the mammalian host. Annu Rev Microbiol. 2009;63:195–221. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types