Multiple pathways for Plasmodium ookinete invasion of the mosquito midgut.

Plasmodium ookinete invasion of the mosquito midgut is a crucial step of the parasite life cycle but little is known about the molecular mechanisms involved. Previously, a phage display peptide library screen identified SM1, a peptide that binds to the mosquito midgut epithelium and inhibits ookinete invasion. SM1 was characterized as a mimotope of an ookinete surface enolase and SM1 presumably competes with enolase, the presumed ligand, for binding to a putative midgut receptor. Here we identify a mosquito midgut receptor that binds both SM1 and ookinete surface enolase, termed "enolase-binding protein" (EBP). Moreover, we determined that Plasmodium berghei parasites are heterogeneous for midgut invasion, as some parasite clones are strongly inhibited by SM1 whereas others are not. The SM1-sensitive parasites required the mosquito EBP receptor for midgut invasion whereas the SM1-resistant parasites invaded the mosquito midgut independently of EBP. These experiments provide evidence that Plasmodium ookinetes can invade the mosquito midgut by alternate pathways. Furthermore, another peptide from the original phage display screen, midgut peptide 2 (MP2), strongly inhibited midgut invasion by P. berghei (SM1-sensitive and SM1-resistant) and Plasmodium falciparum ookinetes, suggesting that MP2 binds to a separate, universal receptor for midgut invasion.

Extraction and analysis of signatures from the Gene Expression Omnibus by the crowd.

Gene expression data are accumulating exponentially in public repositories. Reanalysis and integration of themed collections from these studies may provide new insights, but requires further human curation. Here we report a crowdsourcing project to annotate and reanalyse a large number of gene expression profiles from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). Through a massive open online course on Coursera, over 70 participants from over 25 countries identify and annotate 2,460 single-gene perturbation signatures, 839 disease versus normal signatures, and 906 drug perturbation signatures. All these signatures are unique and are manually validated for quality. Global analysis of these signatures confirms known associations and identifies novel associations between genes, diseases and drugs. The manually curated signatures are used as a training set to develop classifiers for extracting similar signatures from the entire GEO repository. We develop a web portal to serve these signatures for query, download and visualization.

Inhibition of Plasmodium berghei Development in Mosquitoes by Effector Proteins Secreted from Asaia sp. Bacteria Using a Novel Native Secretion Signal.

Novel interventions are needed to prevent the transmission of the Plasmodium parasites that cause malaria. One possible method is to supply mosquitoes with antiplasmodial effector proteins from bacteria by paratransgenesis. Mosquitoes have a diverse complement of midgut microbiota including the Gram-negative bacteria Asaia bogorensis. This study presents the first use of Asaia sp. bacteria for paratransgenesis against P. berghei. We identified putative secreted proteins from A. bogorensis by a genetic screen using alkaline phosphatase gene fusions. Two were secreted efficiently: a siderophore receptor protein and a YVTN beta-propeller repeat protein. The siderophore receptor gene was fused with antiplasmodial effector genes including the scorpine antimicrobial peptide and an anti-Pbs21 scFv-Shiva1 immunotoxin. Asaia SF2.1 secreting these fusion proteins were fed to mosquitoes and challenged with Plasmodium berghei-infected blood. With each of these effector constructs, significant inhibition of parasite development was observed. These results provide a novel and promising intervention against malaria transmission.

Draft Genome Sequence of Asaia sp. Strain SF2.1, an Important Member of the Microbiome of Anopheles Mosquitoes.

Asaia spp. are abundant members of the microbiota of Anopheles mosquitoes, the principle vectors of malaria. Here, we report the draft genome sequence of Asaia sp. strain SF2.1. This strain is under development as a platform to deliver antimalarial peptides and proteins to adult female Anopheles mosquitoes.