Haemosporida parasites of even-toed ungulates are diverse and globally distributed, but since their discovery in 1913 their characterization has relied exclusively on microscopy-based descriptions. In order to bring molecular approaches to bear on the identity and evolutionary relationships of ungulate malaria parasites, we conducted Plasmodium cytb-specific nested PCR surveys using blood from ...

BACKGROUND Plasmodium parasites need to cross the midgut and salivary gland epithelia to complete their life cycle in the mosquito. However, our understanding of the molecular mechanism and the mosquito genes that participate in this process is still very limited. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We identified an Anopheles gambiae epithelial serine protease (AgESP) that is constitutively expres...

Plasmodium, the causative agent of malaria, has to undergo sexual differentiation and development in anopheline mosquitoes for transmission to occur. To isolate genes specifically induced in both organisms during the early stages of Plasmodium differentiation in the mosquito, two cDNA libraries were constructed, one enriched for sequences expressed in differentiating Plasmodium berghei ookinete...

Host phylogenetic relatedness and ecological similarity are thought to contribute parasite community assembly infection rates. However, recent landscape level anthropogenic changes may disrupt host-parasite systems by impacting functional diversity of host communities. We examined whether in diversity, forest cover, minimum temperature influence the prevalence, distributions avian haemosporidia...

New Guinea is one of the most biodiverse regions of the world, particularly in terms of the herpetofauna present, yet surprisingly little is known about the parasites that infect these organisms. A survey of diverse scinid and agamid lizard hosts from this country showed a diversity of malaria parasites infecting these hosts. We combined morphological and morphometric observations of the parasi...

BACKGROUND Malaria and dengue are two of the most common vector-borne diseases in the world, but co-infection is rarely described, and immunologic comparisons of co-infection with mono-infection are lacking. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We collected symptom histories and blood specimens from subjects in a febrile illness surveillance study conducted in Iquitos and Puerto Maldonado, Peru...

abstract       background and objectives: plasmodium falciparum merozoite surface protein-1 (pfmsp-1) is a promising vaccine against malaria during its blood stages which play an important role in immunity to this disease. polymorphic nature of this gene is a major obstacle in making an effective vaccine against malaria. in this study, the genetic diversity of plasmodium falciparum isolates was...

Plasmodium vivax is endemic to many areas of Afghanistan. Geographic analysis helped highlight areas of malaria risk and clarified ecologic risk factors for transmission. Remote sensing enabled development of a risk map, thereby providing a valuable tool to help guide malaria control strategies.

Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites which are transmitted by mosquitoes. Until recently, human malaria was considered to be caused by human-specific Plasmodium species. Studies on Plasmodium parasites in non-human primates (NHPs), however, have identified parasite species in gorillas and chimpanzees that are closely related to human Plasmodium species. Moreover, P. knowlesi, long known as...