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bioRxiv · 10.1101/149443

Mosquito lipids regulate Plasmodium sporogony and infectivity to the mammalian host

Costa, G.·Eldering, M.·Lindquist, R. L.·Hauser, A. E.·Sauerwein, R.·Goosmann, C.·Brinkmann, V.·Levashina, E. A.
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Abstract

Malaria is a fatal human parasitic disease transmitted by a mosquito vector. The evolution of within-host malaria virulence has been the focus of many empirical and theoretical studies. However, the vectors contribution to virulence evolution is not well understood. Here we explored how within-vector resource exploitation impacts evolutionary trajectories of within-host Plasmodium virulence. We developed a nested model of within-vector dynamics and malaria epidemiology, which predicted that non-competitive resource exploitation within-vector restricts within-host parasite virulence. To validate our model, we experimentally manipulated mosquito lipid trafficking and gauged within-vector parasite development, within-host infectivity and virulence. We found that mosquito-derived lipids determine within-host parasite virulence by shaping development and metabolic activity of transmissible sporozoites. Our findings uncover the role of within-vector environment in regulating within-host Plasmodium virulence and identify Plasmodium metabolic traits that may contribute to the evolution of malaria virulence.

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Costa, G., Eldering, M., Lindquist, R. L., Hauser, A. E., Sauerwein, R., Goosmann, C., Brinkmann, V., Levashina, E. A.. 2017-06-13. Mosquito lipids regulate Plasmodium sporogony and infectivity to the mammalian host. https://doi.org/10.1101/149443

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