Brancucci Nicolas M B, De Niz Mariana, Straub Timothy J, Ravel Deepali, Sollelis Lauriane, Birren Bruce W, Voss Till S, Neafsey Daniel E, Marti Matthias
Wellcome Centre for Molecular Parasitology, Institute of Infection, Immunity & Inflammation, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Wellcome Open Res. 2018 Oct 17;3:70. doi: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.14645.4. eCollection 2018.
Malaria parasites go through major transitions during their complex life cycle, yet the underlying differentiation pathways remain obscure. Here we apply single cell transcriptomics to unravel the program inducing sexual differentiation in . Parasites have to make this essential life-cycle decision in preparation for human-to-mosquito transmission. By combining transcriptional profiling with quantitative imaging and genetics, we defined a transcriptional signature in sexually committed cells. We found this transcriptional signature to be distinct from general changes in parasite metabolism that can be observed in response to commitment-inducing conditions. This proof-of-concept study provides a template to capture transcriptional diversity in parasite populations containing complex mixtures of different life-cycle stages and developmental programs, with important implications for our understanding of parasite biology and the ongoing malaria elimination campaign.
疟原虫在其复杂的生命周期中经历重大转变，但其潜在的分化途径仍不清楚。在这里，我们应用单细胞转录组学来揭示诱导疟原虫有性分化的程序。疟原虫必须做出这一关键的生命周期决定，以准备从人类传播到蚊子。通过将转录谱分析与定量成像和遗传学相结合，我们定义了性成熟细胞中的转录特征。我们发现这种转录特征与在诱导成熟的条件下可观察到的寄生虫代谢的一般变化不同。这项概念验证研究提供了一个模板，用于捕捉包含不同生命周期阶段和发育程序复杂混合物的寄生虫群体中的转录多样性，对我们理解寄生虫生物学和正在进行的疟疾消除运动具有重要意义。
