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Updated: Mar 7, 2026

Generating Genetically Modified Plasmodium berghei Sporozoites
Published on: May 5, 2023
Plasmodium berghei plasmepsin VIII is essential for sporozoite gliding motility
Babu S Mastan1, Sunil Kumar Narwal2, Sandeep Dey1
1Department of Animal Biology, School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad 500046, India.
Abstract:
Plasmodium aspartic proteases, termed plasmepsins (PMs) play many critical roles such as haemoglobin degradation, cleavage of PEXEL proteins and sporozoite development in the parasite life cycle. Most of the plasmepsins are well characterized, however the role of PM VIII in Plasmodium remains unknown. Here, we elucidate the functions of PM VIII (PBANKA_132910) in the rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei (Pb). By targeted gene deletion, we show that PbPM VIII is critical for sporozoite egress from an oocyst and gliding motility, which is a prerequisite for the invasion of salivary glands and subsequent transmission to the vertebrate host.
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