Commitment to sexual differentiation in the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum

Parasitology ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 121 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. G. SMITH ◽  
P. LOURENÇO ◽  
R. CARTER ◽  
D. WALLIKER ◽  
L. C. RANFORD-CARTWRIGHT
Keyword(s):  
Plasmodium Falciparum ◽  
Sexual Differentiation ◽  
Malaria Parasite ◽  
Human Malaria Parasite ◽  
Human Malaria ◽  
Parasite Plasmodium ◽  
Parasite Plasmodium Falciparum

Commitment to the production of male and female gametocytes in the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum

Parasitology ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 121 (5) ◽  
pp. 465-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. SILVESTRINI ◽  
P. ALANO ◽  
J. L. WILLIAMS
Keyword(s):  
Plasmodium Falciparum ◽  
Sexual Differentiation ◽  
Malaria Parasite ◽  
Specific Protein ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Human Malaria Parasite ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Human Malaria ◽  
Parasite Plasmodium ◽  
Parasite Plasmodium Falciparum

Commitment to the production of female and male gametocytes was studied in the NF54 line of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. The development of sibling parasites derived from individual schizonts was followed, and 2 antisera against the female gametocyte-specific protein Pfg377 and the male gametocyte-specific protein α-tubulin II were used to determine the sex of sibling gametocytes. The experiment showed that individual cohorts of sibling gametocytes were stained in a mutually exclusive fashion by only one or the other antiserum, indicating that individual schizonts committed to yield sexual parasite progeny produce gametocytes of the same sex. This work suggests that in P. falciparum commitment to sexual differentiation occurs prior to schizont maturation, at the same moment when the sex of the resulting gametocytes is determined.

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