Clonal Diversity and Sex Ratio of a Malaria Parasite

疟疾寄生虫的克隆多样性和性别比例

• 批准号: 0813832
• 负责人: Joseph Schall
• 金额: $ 24.44万
• 依托单位: University of Vermont & State Agricultural College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-08-01 至 2014-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0813832&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Clonal; Diversity; Sex; Ratio; Malaria

Malaria parasites (Plasmodium) have a complex life cycle that consists of asexual reproduction (cell division) within the blood cells of vertebrate hosts (including humans and many wildlife species), and sexual reproduction within a blood-feeding insect. The parasites produce male and female sex cells (gametocytes) in blood cells, and these mate within the insect. Although the life cycle of the malaria parasite has been known for a century, one feature remains a mystery: why gametocyte sex ratio varies among Plasmodium species and even among infections for any one species. This study will be the first to study the molecular genetics of a natural malaria system to test sex ratio theory, a mainstay of evolutionary biology. It will examine how the genetic diversity of the parasite influences the ratio of male and female gametocytes (sex ratio), with experiments using a Plasmodium that infects a reptile host. The experiments will test the hypothesis that the sex ratio of those gametocytes is determined by how often matings occur between gametocytes that are genetically identical. The experiments will also test the hypothesis that the parasites are able to monitor the presence of kin and non-kin within a single infected individual. Malaria kills millions of people every year and is an important disease of many wild animals. The genetic diversity of parasites is thought to play a major role in their biology, including transmission and virulence, so the results of this study may provide important information for treating this disease. In addition, this project will result in the training of at least 10 undergraduate and graduate students.

疟疾寄生虫（疟原虫）具有复杂的生命周期，该生命周期由脊椎动物宿主的血细胞（包括人类和许多野生动植物物种）内的无性繁殖（细胞分裂）组成，并在血液喂养昆虫中进行性繁殖。这些寄生虫在血细胞中产生男性和女性性细胞（配子细胞），这些寄生虫在昆虫中产生。尽管疟疾寄生虫的生命周期已有一个世纪而闻名，但一个特征仍然是一个谜：疟原虫性别比例在疟原虫物种之间，甚至在任何一种物种的感染之间都会有所不同。这项研究将是第一个研究天然疟疾系统的分子遗传学，以测试性别比例理论，性别比例理论是进化生物学的主要阶段。它将研究寄生虫的遗传多样性如何影响男性和女性配子细胞（性别比）的比例，并使用感染爬行动物宿主的疟原虫进行实验。实验将检验以下假设：这些配子细胞的性别比取决于遗传上相同的配子细胞之间发生的频率。实验还将检验以下假设：寄生虫能够监测单个感染个体中亲属和非金属的存在。疟疾每年杀死数百万人，是许多野生动物的重要疾病。寄生虫的遗传多样性被认为在其生物学中起着重要作用，包括传播和毒力，因此这项研究的结果可能会为治疗这种疾病提供重要信息。此外，该项目将导致至少10名本科生和研究生培训。