Plasmodium gallinaceum is an avian malaria parasite that provides a reliable laboratory model for studying mosquito-parasite interactions and ...SkiptomaincontentAdvertisementSearchallBMCarticlesSearchDownloadPDFResearchOpenAccessPublished:06January2021AedesaegyptiSGS1iscriticalforPlasmodiumgallinaceuminfectionofboththemosquitomidgutandsalivaryglandsBiancaB.Kojin1,InesMartin-Martin2,HelenaR.C.Araújo3,BrianBonilla2,AlvaroMolina-Cruz2,EricCalvo2,MargarethL.Capurro3&ZachN.Adelman1 MalariaJournalvolume 20,Article number: 11(2021)Citethisarticle844Accesses1AltmetricMetricsdetailsAbstractBackgroundTheinvasionofthemosquitosalivaryglandsbyPlasmodiumsporozoitesisacriticalstepthatdefinesthesuccessofmalariatransmissionandadetailedunderstandingofthemoleculesresponsibleforsalivaryglandinvasioncouldbeleveragedtowardscontrolofvector-bornepathogens.AntibodiesdirectedagainstthemosquitosalivaryglandproteinSGS1havebeenshowntoreducePlasmodiumgallinaceumsporozoiteinvasionofAedesaegyptisalivaryglands,butthespecificroleofthisproteininsporozoiteinvasionandinotherstagesofthePlasmodiumlifecycleremainsunknown.MethodsRNAinterferenceandCRISPR/Cas9wereusedtoevaluatetheroleofA.aegyptiSGS1intheP.gallinaceumlifecycle.ResultsKnockdownandknockoutofSGS1disruptedsporozoiteinvasionofthesalivarygland.Interestingly,mosquitoeslackingSGS1alsodisplayedfeweroocysts.ProteomicanalysesconfirmedtheabolishmentofSGS1inthesalivaryglandofSGS1knockoutmosquitoesandrevealedthattheC-terminusoftheproteinisabsentinthesalivaryglandofcontrolmosquitoes.InsilicoanalysesindicatedthatSGS1containstwopotentialinternalcleavagesitesandthusmightgeneratethreeproteins.ConclusionSGS1facilitates,butisnotessentialfor,invasionofA.aegyptisalivaryglandsbyP.gallinaceumandhasadualroleasafacilitatorofparasitedevelopmentinthemosquitomidgut.SGS1could,therefore,bepartofastrategytodecreasemalariatransmissionbythemosquitovector,forexampleinatransgenicmosquitothatblocksitsinteractionwiththeparasite.BackgroundSubstantialprogresshasbeenmadetowardsreduc