Plasmodium/Malaria background reading

General Plasmodium Reviews/Reading

This seminal textbook in the Plasmodium field, "The Primate Malarias" (1971) by Coatney, G.R et al., is thankfully available online (click on the image to access) and has wonderful illustrations of Plasmodium life-cycles by Medical Illustrator Gertrude Nicholson. A wonderfully informative book.

"Malaria parasites and other haemosporidia" by P.C.C Garnham (1966) has been described to me as the "Bible of Malaria Research". This book is rare. You may have a copy in your University library. If you ever find it in a second-hand bookshop or being sold by a library: BUY IT! This book is an encyclopaedia of malaria parasites in many species (with drawings of the parasite life-cycle stages). It is a crime that it hasn't been re-published in recent years. It is printed in English and was printed by Blackwell Scientific Publications (now Wiley-Blackwell). It is not online and is a pleasure to look through if you ever get the chance.

All I want to say about this Otto et al. 2014 paper is: "Additional File 7". Just open it. It is an excel file of where all the rodent malaria isolates came from and it is SO helpful!

First transfection of DNA (by electroporation) into a Plasmodium parasite (P. gallinaceum). (1993).

First stable transfection of DNA (episomally) into P. berghei ANKA (rodent malaria) (1995).

First stable transfection of DNA into P. falciparum parasites inside erythrocytes. (1995).

Methods

The most recent edition (6th), though perhaps slightly outdated now, is a monster book of malaria protocols that should provide a good start if you want to work with Plasmodium falciparum or Plasmodium berghei in particular. I printed a copy of this when I began my PhD in Plasmodium berghei (rodent malaria).

This is Swearingen & Lindner, 2018 and if you are about to embark on a Plasmodium proteomics project, I would suggest reading over this review. For general post-translational modifications, I would highly recommend anything from the Garcia Lab at the University of Pennsylvania, especially: Sidoli & Garcia, 2017 at https://bit.ly/2SvEmIg

De Niz et al., 2019. A recent review in in vivo imaging technologies for parasitology, including those useful to imaging Plasmodium spp.

Malaria Vaccines

A review from 2018, this paper provides a really nice overview (and beautiful images) of vaccine targets in the malaria parasite and recent advances.

Molecular Genetics

This Nature Review from 2015 is an absolutely superb overview of molecular genetic systems in malaria (gallinaceum, falciparum, berghei and more). I referenced this in my own PhD thesis and the images are fantastic in explaining methods of genetic manipulation in a very simple, visual way. Great images for presentations also.

2018 paper describing P. berghei ANKA rapamycin-inducible gene expression ("over-expression" line).

Gene In/Marker Out (GIMO) transgene expression method (for P. berghei ANKA and P. yeolii 17XNL).

Gene Out/Marker Out (GOMO) method to generate drug-selectable marker free lines (P. berghei ANKA and P. yoelii 17XNL).

Ponzi et al., 2009. If you use the "820" P. berghei ANKA background line, this is the original reference. Creates GFP-expressing male gametocytes and RFP-expressing female gametocytes.

Hughes & Waters, 2017. This describes a rapamycin-inducible "knocksideways" method of conditional relocation of proteins in P. berghei ANKA (a method of conditional "degradation" by displacing the protein of interest).

Philip & Waters, 2015. Methods paper describing auxin-inducible degradation in P. berghei.

Ghorbal et al., 2014. The CRISPR-Cas9 system in P. falciparum.

Method for the FLP/FRT conditional mutagenesis system (P. berghei NK65). (Lacroix et al., 2011).

If you're working in P. berghei ANKA and you're ever using the "507" or "507 TBB (transmission bite back)" line, this is the background paper for that. It describes how a P. berghei line was generated to constitutively express GFP so that infected red blood cells can be separated out by FACS/fluorescence microscopy.

Plasmodium post-translational modifications

This review from 2015 is easily updatable and provides some beautiful images of post-translational modifications in the malaria parasite that determine life-cycle stage and growth.

This paper has a really great diagram of the histones of P. falciparum with histone modifications illustrated for this parasite. Make sure to check out the methods too. The Garcia Lab at the University of Pennsylvania (featuring author, Simone Sidoli) are leaders in using mass spectrometry to identify epigenetic modifications on histones.

Gametocytes

The latest review of gametocytogenesis in malaria parasites comes from Josling, Williamson, and Llinás, 2018. A great review. And a great place to start if you are new to malaria parasite sexual development.

If you work in P. berghei and are trying to grow many gametocytes in vivo; this is the original sulfadiazine treatment paper (addition of Sulfadiazine increases gametocyte numbers extracted by killing the replicating asexual-stage parasites.

Sinha et al., 2014. This is the original paper showing that AP2-G is the transcriptional regulator responsible for gametocytogenesis in P. berghei ANKA (released back-to-back with Kafsack et al., 2014).

Kafsack et al., 2014. This paper, alongside Sinha et al., 2014, showed that AP2-G is necessary for gametocytogenesis in Plasmodium. This paper showed the effect in P. falciparum (the first time it was shown in a human malaria parasite). Both papers appeared back-to-back.

Filarsky et al, 2018. Another seminal paper in the gametocytogenesis/transmission story; this time with the role of the gametocyte development 1 (GDV1) protein being shown in P. falciparum. GDV1 regulation occurs before AP2-G regulation but GDV1 is not present in the rodent malaria lineages. In this way, Laverania and Plasmodium species may have differing mechanisms of regulating commitment to sexual development.

Brancucci et al., 2017. This paper is the first time a nutrient was shown to influence Plasmodium commitment to sexual development/gametocytogenesis. Read carefully! Lyso-PC abundance REPRESSES gametocytogenesis. Although, as with GDV1, P. falciparum responses to Lyso-PC differ from the P. berghei ANKA (rodent malaria) response to Lyso-PC.

Brancucci et al., 2014. This paper, alongside Coleman et al., 2014, showed that heterochromatin protein 1 (an epigenetic regulator) plays a role in gametocytogenesis,

Coleman et al, 2014. Alongside Brancucci et al., 2014, this paper showed that epigenetic regulators, in this case P. falciparum histone deacetylase 2 (PfHda2), were involved in the regulation of AP2-G, and therefore, Plasmodium gametocytogenesis.