Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 109, Issue 31, Pages 12734-12739Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1204158109
Keywords
Anopheles gambiae; malaria control; paratransgenesis; transmission blocking
Categories
Funding
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases [AI088033]
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation [OPP53275]
- Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute
- Bloomberg Family Foundation
- National Institutes of Health [RR00052]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The most vulnerable stages of Plasmodium development occur in the lumen of the mosquito midgut, a compartment shared with symbiotic bacteria. Here, we describe a strategy that uses symbiotic bacteria to deliver antimalaria effector molecules to the midgut lumen, thus rendering host mosquitoes refractory to malaria infection. The Escherichia coli hemolysin A secretion system was used to promote the secretion of a variety of anti-Plasmodium effector proteins by Pantoea agglomerans, a common mosquito symbiotic bacterium. These engineered P. agglomerans strains inhibited development of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum and rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei by up to 98%. Significantly, the proportion of mosquitoes carrying parasites (prevalence) decreased by up to 84% for two of the effector molecules, scorpine, a potent antiplasmodial peptide and (EPIP)(4), four copies of Plasmodium enolase-plasminogen interaction peptide that prevents plasminogen binding to the ookinete surface. We demonstrate the use of an engineered symbiotic bacterium to interfere with the development of P. falciparum in the mosquito. These findings provide the foundation for the use of genetically modified symbiotic bacteria as a powerful tool to combat malaria.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available