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Parasite development is the study of all the different stages that a parasite undergoes during its life cycle, including the various changes in physiology, metabolism and physical form.
Malaria transmission is affected by temperature but this relationship is not well characterised. Here, the authors experimentally determine the effect of temperature on parasite development in the mosquito and model how it impacts malaria transmission in Kenya under current and future climate scenarios.
The African trypanosome Trypanosoma brucei has been shown to form stress granules in vitro that might be repurposed to enable differentiation and facilitate parasite transmission. Here, Cayla et al. show that differentiation between slender and stumpy forms does involve membrane-less granules that are different from nutritional stress granules.
A study describes the molecular basis of sexual development of Toxoplasma gondii entirely in vitro, demonstrating the role and interaction of AP2XII-1 and AP2XI-2 in the developmental program of this protozoan parasite.
Gametogenesis is critical for sexual reproduction. Using volume electron microscopy, Hair et al report the structural organisation of the haploid nucleus coiled around the axoneme of the Plasmodium berghei male microgamete.
Two studies now identify bradyzoite-formation deficient 1 and microrchidia as ‘master regulators’ of the transcriptional events that control developmental life cycle transitions in the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii.
A study of blood-feeding female sand flies has shown how successive blood meals amplify Leishmania infections in the vector’s gut and enhance transmission of the tropical disease leishmaniasis.
