Watcharakorn Mongkol. Differential gene expression of plasmodium vivax-infected and uninfected anopheles dirus. Doctoral Degree(Genetics). Kasetsart University. Office of the University Library. : Kasetsart University, 2018.
Differential gene expression of plasmodium vivax-infected and uninfected anopheles dirus
Abstract:
Malaria is a public health problem caused by Plasmodium parasites. These parasites are transmitted to human by Anopheles mosquitoes. In Thailand, P. vivax is the predominant species of malaria parasites. An. dirus is a primary vector in the country. Understanding the molecular interaction between the parasite and the mosquito will assist elimination of malaria. In this study, transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) was conducted to determine changes in expression of the An. dirus genes upon P. vivax infection at different time points. Three conditions of An. dirus - bloodfed, sugar-fed, and P. vivax infected blood fed, were used to generate transcriptomes. Approximately 85% of An. dirus genes and 25% of P. vivax genes were mapped. Genes with >2-fold change in transcripts among these 3 conditions were identified and confirmed by qRT-PCR. Three up-regulated An. dirus genes - carboxylesterase, cuticular protein RR-2 family (cpr129) and yellow-g - were selected from the RNAseq data at 18 hours post feeding for targeted knockdown by oral dsRNA delivery. The transcription levels of yellow-g and carboxylesterase were significantly reduced. Further experiment is required to confirm whether these two genes are important for the P. vivax development inside the mosquito. If the knockdowns of these two genes could suppress the parasite in mosquitoes, these genes would be novel targets for development of new malaria transmission blocking intervention.
Kasetsart University. Office of the University Library