Revisiting the Plasmodium sporozoite inoculum and elucidating the efficiency with which malaria parasites progress through the mosquito
Abstract Malaria is initiated when infected anopheline mosquitoes inoculate sporozoites as they probe for blood. It is thought that all infected mosquitoes are equivalent in terms of their infectious potential, with parasite burden having no role in transmission success. In this study, using mosquit...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-44962-4 |
| _version_ | 1797276459011670016 |
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| author | Sachie Kanatani Deborah Stiffler Teun Bousema Gayane Yenokyan Photini Sinnis |
| author_facet | Sachie Kanatani Deborah Stiffler Teun Bousema Gayane Yenokyan Photini Sinnis |
| author_sort | Sachie Kanatani |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Malaria is initiated when infected anopheline mosquitoes inoculate sporozoites as they probe for blood. It is thought that all infected mosquitoes are equivalent in terms of their infectious potential, with parasite burden having no role in transmission success. In this study, using mosquitoes harboring the entire range of salivary gland sporozoite loads observed in the field, we demonstrate a strong and highly significant correlation between mosquito parasite burden and inoculum size. We then link the inoculum data to oocyst counts, the most commonly-used metric to assess mosquito infection in the field, and determine the efficiency with which oocyst sporozoites enter mosquito salivary glands. Taken together our data support the conclusion that mosquitoes with higher parasite burdens are more likely to initiate infection and contribute to onward transmission. Overall these data may account for some of the unexplained heterogeneity in transmission and enable more precise benchmarks for transmission-blocking interventions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T15:28:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-36d12afc8d644f59bbdf13589a8d3cb6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T15:28:31Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj.art-36d12afc8d644f59bbdf13589a8d3cb62024-03-05T16:34:20ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232024-01-0115111310.1038/s41467-024-44962-4Revisiting the Plasmodium sporozoite inoculum and elucidating the efficiency with which malaria parasites progress through the mosquitoSachie Kanatani0Deborah Stiffler1Teun Bousema2Gayane Yenokyan3Photini Sinnis4Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public HealthDepartment of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public HealthDepartment of Medical Microbiology & Radboud Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud University Medical CenterDepartment of Biostatistics, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public HealthDepartment of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public HealthAbstract Malaria is initiated when infected anopheline mosquitoes inoculate sporozoites as they probe for blood. It is thought that all infected mosquitoes are equivalent in terms of their infectious potential, with parasite burden having no role in transmission success. In this study, using mosquitoes harboring the entire range of salivary gland sporozoite loads observed in the field, we demonstrate a strong and highly significant correlation between mosquito parasite burden and inoculum size. We then link the inoculum data to oocyst counts, the most commonly-used metric to assess mosquito infection in the field, and determine the efficiency with which oocyst sporozoites enter mosquito salivary glands. Taken together our data support the conclusion that mosquitoes with higher parasite burdens are more likely to initiate infection and contribute to onward transmission. Overall these data may account for some of the unexplained heterogeneity in transmission and enable more precise benchmarks for transmission-blocking interventions.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-44962-4 |
| spellingShingle | Sachie Kanatani Deborah Stiffler Teun Bousema Gayane Yenokyan Photini Sinnis Revisiting the Plasmodium sporozoite inoculum and elucidating the efficiency with which malaria parasites progress through the mosquito Nature Communications |
| title | Revisiting the Plasmodium sporozoite inoculum and elucidating the efficiency with which malaria parasites progress through the mosquito |
| title_full | Revisiting the Plasmodium sporozoite inoculum and elucidating the efficiency with which malaria parasites progress through the mosquito |
| title_fullStr | Revisiting the Plasmodium sporozoite inoculum and elucidating the efficiency with which malaria parasites progress through the mosquito |
| title_full_unstemmed | Revisiting the Plasmodium sporozoite inoculum and elucidating the efficiency with which malaria parasites progress through the mosquito |
| title_short | Revisiting the Plasmodium sporozoite inoculum and elucidating the efficiency with which malaria parasites progress through the mosquito |
| title_sort | revisiting the plasmodium sporozoite inoculum and elucidating the efficiency with which malaria parasites progress through the mosquito |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-44962-4 |
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