Parasitology articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Screening for new anthelmintic compounds that are active against parasitic nematodes is costly and labour intensive. Here, the authors use the non-parasitic nematode Caenorhabditis elegansto identify 30 anthelmintic lead compounds in an effective and cost-efficient manner.

    • Andrew R. Burns
    • , Genna M. Luciani
    •  & Peter J. Roy

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lucilia cuprina is a parasitic blowfly of major economic importance worldwide that feeds on the tissues of animals such as sheep. Here, the authors sequence the genome of L. cuprinaand provide insights into the fly’s molecular biology, interactions with the host animal and insecticide resistance.

    • Clare A. Anstead
    • , Pasi K. Korhonen
    •  & Robin B. Gasser

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Microsporidia are intracellular parasitic fungi that infect diverse animal hosts including humans. Here, Desjardins et al.present genomic and transcriptomic data for two microsporidia that infect disease-transmitting mosquitoes, highlighting differences in potential host interplay mechanisms.

    • Christopher A. Desjardins
    • , Neil D. Sanscrainte
    •  & Christina A Cuomo

  • Article |

    Malaria parasites generate metabolic energy through anaerobic glycolysis, yielding lactate and protons that are then secreted out of the parasite cell by an unknown transporter. Here, the authors identify and characterize a lactate/proton transporter that may be carrying out such function in Plasmodium.

    • Binghua Wu
    • , Janis Rambow
    •  & Eric Beitz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Toxocara canis is a zoonotic parasite of major worldwide socioeconomic importance. Here, the authors sequence the genome and transcriptome of T. canis, and highlight potential mechanisms involved in development and host–parasite interactions that could support the pursuit of new drug interventions.

    • Xing-Quan Zhu
    • , Pasi K. Korhonen
    •  & Robin B. Gasser

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding the epidemiology of malaria transmission between humans and mosquitoes is crucial for successful disease control. Analysing data from an 18-year malaria control programme, Churcher et al. show that decreased parasite prevalence in humans can be found concurrently with an increase in transmission efficiency.

    • Thomas S. Churcher
    • , Jean-François Trape
    •  & Anna Cohuet

  • Article |

    Trypanosomes, responsible for sleeping sickness, acquire haem through binding haptoglobin(Hp)–haemoglobin(Hb) complexes in human blood. Here Stødkilde et al. determine the structure of human Hp–Hb in complex with the Hp–Hb receptor from T. bruceiand show that the recognition elements are shared by a protein complex on the surface of a trypanolytic lipoprotein particle.

    • Kristian Stødkilde
    • , Morten Torvund-Jensen
    •  & Christian B. F. Andersen

  • Article |

    Wolbachia are common obligate intracellular symbionts, yet their evolutionary relationships remain largely unknown. Here, the authors present a phylogenomic analysis of the group and show a possible single origin of the ubiquitous Wolbachialineages.

    • Michael Gerth
    • , Marie-Theres Gansauge
    •  & Christoph Bleidorn

  • Article |

    Subtilase SUB1, a proteolytic enzyme required for the exit of malarial parasites from host cells, represents a promising target for anti-malarial drugs. Here, Giganti et al. report the structure of PlasmodiumSUB1 and identify an essential domain involved in calcium-dependent activation of the enzyme.

    • David Giganti
    • , Anthony Bouillon
    •  & Jean-Christophe Barale

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Plasmodium falciparum, known to cause malaria in humans, evolved from parasites of African Great Apes. Here, the authors compare the genome of the human parasite, P. falciparum, with those of two related chimpanzee parasites, P. reichenowi and P. gaboni, and provide insight into the genetic basis of P. falciparumadaptation to human hosts.

    • Thomas D. Otto
    • , Julian C. Rayner
    •  & Matthew Berriman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Asian liver fluke is a parasitic worm that is linked to an increased risk of malignant cancer. Here, the authors sequence the draft genome and transcriptome of this fluke and provide insight into how the species has adapted to be able to survive in the bile duct.

    • Neil D. Young
    • , Niranjan Nagarajan
    •  & Robin B. Gasser

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tracing the source of malarial infections is an important step towards monitoring and controlling the disease. Here, Preston et al. analyse sequence data from 711 isolates and design a genetic barcode based on combined mitochondrial and apicoplast genomes that is able to distinguish between malaria parasites isolated from different geographical regions.

    • Mark D. Preston
    • , Susana Campino
    •  & Taane G. Clark

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Wolbachia bacteria live within the cells of many insect species, manipulating their hosts’ reproduction and immune responses. Here, the authors show that these microbes also infect wild populations of malaria-spreading Anopheles mosquitoes, supporting a potential use of Wolbachiato limit malaria transmission.

    • Francesco Baldini
    • , Nicola Segata
    •  & Flaminia Catteruccia

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In the malarial parasitophorous vacuole, the serine protease SUB1 processes parasite proteins that are required for release from host cells and invasion. Here, the authors report the first crystallographic structure of SUB1 in complex with its cognate prodomain revealing its substrate interactions and providing insight into its regulation.

    • Chrislaine Withers-Martinez
    • , Malcolm Strath
    •  & Michael J. Blackman

  • Article |

    Plasmodium vivax, the leading cause of human malaria in Asia and Latin America, is thought to have an Asian origin. Here, the authors show that wild chimpanzees and gorillas in Africa are infected with parasites that are closely related to P. vivax, indicating an African origin for this species.

    • Weimin Liu
    • , Yingying Li
    •  & Paul M. Sharp

  • Article |

    The mitochondrial calcium uniporter supports oxidative phosphorylation in mammals; however, it is also present in blood-stage trypanosomes, which lack a functional respiratory chain. Huang et al. show that the mitochondrial calcium uniporter is essential for blood-stage survival and metabolism in Trypanosoma brucei.

    • Guozhong Huang
    • , Anibal E. Vercesi
    •  & Roberto Docampo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Plasmodium falciparum reticulocyte-binding protein homologue 1 (PfRH1) and erythrocyte-binding-like protein EBA175 are important for parasite invasion of host cells. Here, Gao et al.show that PfRH1 activates calcium signalling, which induces release of EBA175 and allows junction formation between host cell and parasite.

    • Xiaohong Gao
    • , Karthigayan Gunalan
    •  & Peter R. Preiser

  • Article |

    Actin normally polymerizes into filaments in a cooperative manner, with nucleation and elongation phases. Skillman et al. show that actin from the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondiipolymerizes in an isodesmic manner, without any evidence of nucleation, resulting in filaments that are very short and unstable.

    • Kristen M. Skillman
    • , Christopher I. Ma
    •  & L. David Sibley

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Transmission-blocking interventions aim to interrupt progression of Plasmodium parasites from the vertebrate host to the mosquito. Blagborough et al. demonstrate that only partially reducing transmission can be sufficient to eliminate experimental Plasmodiuminfection in successive mosquito and mice populations when biting rates are low.

    • A. M. Blagborough
    • , T. S. Churcher
    •  & R. E. Sinden

  • Article |

    The identification of hosts of blood-sucking insects is important for studying ecological factors that affect pathogen distribution. Önder et al. report a proteomics-based methodology for the analysis of blood remnants in ticks that identifies the host species from which the tick has fed up to 6 months earlier.

    • Özlem Önder
    • , Wenguang Shao
    •  & Dustin Brisson

  • Article |

    The number of human infections caused by the primate malaria parasite P. knowlesi is increasing. Lim et al. demonstrate that host specificity is due to the preference of the parasite for young blood cells, and that the parasite can adapt to proliferate in human blood containing a range of differently aged cells.

    • Caeul Lim
    • , Elsa Hansen
    •  & Manoj T. Duraisingh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The factors that modulate growth rate of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum remain poorly understood. Here Scherf and collaborators demonstrate that the Plasmodiumsirtuin PfSir2a regulates the transcription of ribosomal DNA, thereby modulating parasite proliferation rate and virulence.

    • Liliana Mancio-Silva
    • , Jose Juan Lopez-Rubio
    •  & Artur Scherf

  • Article
    | Open Access

    During red blood cell infection, malaria parasites export hundreds of proteins that remodel the host cell surface. Cowman and colleagues identify a putative protein translocator complex spatially associated with exported proteins, revealing the cellular domains involved in protein export.

    • David T. Riglar
    • , Kelly L. Rogers
    •  & Alan F. Cowman

  • Article |

    The proteome of the malarial parasite Plasmodium falciparum has an overabundance of aggregation-prone asparagine repeat-containing proteins. Muralidharan et al. show that PlasmodiumHsp110 protein potently prevents aggregation of asparagine-rich proteins, thereby allowing the parasite to survive febrile episodes.

    • Vasant Muralidharan
    • , Anna Oksman
    •  & Daniel E. Goldberg

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Malaria can persist at levels that escape detection by standard microscopy, but can be detected by PCR. Okell et al.now show that rates of submicroscopic infection can be predicted using more widely available microscopy data, and are most epidemiologically significant in areas with low malaria transmission.

    • Lucy C. Okell
    • , Teun Bousema
    •  & Chris J. Drakeley

  • Article
    | Open Access

    New approaches are required to combatPlasmodium falciparuminfection. In this proteome-wide study, 1305 phosphorylation sites are identified and 36 kinases are shown to have crucial roles in parasite survival, providing new insights into parasite biology and potential new drug targets for anti-malarial chemotherapy.

    • Lev Solyakov
    • , Jean Halbert
    •  & Christian Doerig

  • Article |

    Parasites such as malaria elicit an immune response in their host, causing cytokine levels to increase. In this study, a parasite housekeeping gene, tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase, is shown to bind to host macrophages and, once inside the cells, enhance the levels of proinflammatory cytokines.

    • Tarun Kumar Bhatt
    • , Sameena Khan
    •  & Amit Sharma

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The chronic disease schistosomiasis is caused by the blood flukeSchistosoma mansoni. By studying DNA modifications throughout the lifecycle of the pathogen, the authors identify DNA methylation as a factor in egg development and suggest that the epigenetic machinery responsible may be a therapeutic target.

    • Kathrin K. Geyer
    • , Carlos M. Rodríguez López
    •  & Karl F. Hoffmann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Recent work has shown that the transmission of malaria from mosquito to human is inefficient. In this study, an analysis of published literature is used to understand this inefficiency, which is likely due to heterogeneous biting, where 20% of people receive 80% of the bites.

    • David L. Smith
    • , Chris J. Drakeley
    •  & Simon I. Hay

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