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Query: UMLS:C0024530 (malaria)
 44,886 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Although anopheline mosquitoes are important vectors of malaria, their genetic makeup has not yet been extensively investigated. The present studies concentrate on the genetic basis of esterases in Anopheles albinomanus. Nine zones of esterase activity activity have been resolved by gel electrophoresis. Four of these esterases: EST-2, EST-4, EST-6, and EST-8 are present throughout all developmental stages and also posess allelic variation. Mass matings were carried out with homozygous males and females heterozygous for two or more loci. The analyses of the progeny from single egg batches revealed that the four esterase systems mentioned above are encoded in separate loci with codominant allels. Analyses of two-point and three-point crosses have indicated the following linkage relationships: Est-8--12%--Est-4--22%--Est-2--9%--Est-6. The assignment of this linkage group to chromosome 3 has been accomplished by the use of a Y-2 chromosome translocation.
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PMID:Linkage relationships and chromosome assignment of four esterase loci in the mosquito Anopheles albimanus. 126 5

The phylum Apixomplexa includes obligate intracellular parasites that are of enormous medical and veterinary significance, as they are responsible for a wide variety of diseases including malaria, toxoplasmosis, coccidiosis, cryptosporidiosis, theileriosis and babesiosis. The EST sequencing projects in Toxoplasma gondii and the Plasmodium falciparum genome sequencing project have greatly accelerated gene discovery, revealing for example novel coding sequences restricted to the Apicomplexa. However, easy acquisition of sequence is almost useless if the function of any given gene cannot be tested. The establishment of transfection systems in Toxoplasma gondii, Neospora and in several Plasmodium species has provided us with the reverse genetics methods appropriate to the functional analysis of genes. Over the past few years, the discovery of novel genes coupled to the ability to introduce or modify genes has already contributed to a better understanding of cell biology and pathogenesis of these obligate intracellular parasites. Some insights into the complex processes of parasite invasion, differentiation, regulation of gene expression and protein trafficking are emerging although identification of the exact functional roles for many molecules is still awaiting more investigation. This review summarizes progress in this area. It also emphasises the tight link and synergy between Toxoplasma and malaria research. The use of reverse genetics does not guarantee the answer to gene function, so we can learn from both failed and successful experiments about how better and more efficiently to use 'genomics' to accelerate discoveries relevant to the understanding of parasitism by Apicomplexa.
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PMID:The importance of reverse genetics in determining gene function in apicomplexan parasites. 1046 37

Pistil tissues are actively involved in pollen tube growth and respond to the presence of the growing pollen tubes by modulating the expression of specific genes. Once fertilization has occurred, complex developmental programs lead to embryogenesis, ovary maturation, and seed set. In order to understand the early events that follow pollination and fertilization we have used a subtractive hybridization approach to characterize genes which are related to pollination and fertilization events. One cDNA clone isolated and named SPP30 (Solanum pollinated pistil) was found to share significant sequence identities with a Plasmodium falciparum (malaria parasite) surface antigen and a yeast gene of unknown function. Searches in recent EST databases also revealed that SPP30 homologues are found in both monocot and dicot species. The presence of this conserved gene in evolutionarily distant organisms such as yeast, Plasmodium, and plants suggests that it codes for an essential cellular function. This is also strengthened by its extremely high sequence conservation in both monocots and dicots where virtually all substitutions tolerated are conservative.
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PMID:Fertilization and wounding of the style induce the expression of a highly conserved plant gene homologous to a Plasmodium falciparum surface antigen in the wild potato Solanum chacoense Bitt. 1056 Oct 73

PlasmoDB (http://PlasmoDB.org) is the official database of the Plasmodium falciparum genome sequencing consortium. This resource incorporates finished and draft genome sequence data and annotation emerging from Plasmodium sequencing projects. PlasmoDB currently houses information from five parasite species and provides tools for cross-species comparisons. Sequence information is also integrated with other genomic-scale data emerging from the Plasmodium research community, including gene expression analysis from EST, SAGE and microarray projects. The relational schemas used to build PlasmoDB [Genomics Unified Schema (GUS) and RNA Abundance Database (RAD)] employ a highly structured format to accommodate the diverse data types generated by sequence and expression projects. A variety of tools allow researchers to formulate complex, biologically based queries of the database. A version of the database is also available on CD-ROM (Plasmodium GenePlot), facilitating access to the data in situations where Internet access is difficult (e.g. by malaria researchers working in the field). The goal of PlasmoDB is to enhance utilization of the vast quantities of data emerging from genome-scale projects by the global malaria research community.
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PMID:PlasmoDB: the Plasmodium genome resource. An integrated database providing tools for accessing, analyzing and mapping expression and sequence data (both finished and unfinished). 1175 62

The complex gene expression responses of Anopheles gambiae to microbial and malaria challenges, injury, and oxidative stress (in the mosquito and/or a cultured cell line) were surveyed by using cDNA microarrays constructed from an EST-clone collection. The expression profiles were broadly subdivided into induced and down-regulated gene clusters. Gram+ and Gram- bacteria and microbial elicitors up-regulated a diverse set of genes, many belonging to the immunity class, and the response to malaria partially overlapped with this response. Oxidative stress activated a distinctive set of genes, mainly implicated in oxidoreductive processes. Injury up- and down-regulated gene clusters also were distinctive, prominently implicating glycolysis-related genes and citric acid cycle/oxidative phosphorylation/redox-mitochondrial functions, respectively. Cross-comparison of in vivo and in vitro responses indicated the existence of tightly coregulated gene groups that may correspond to gene pathways.
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PMID:Genome expression analysis of Anopheles gambiae: responses to injury, bacterial challenge, and malaria infection. 1207 97

PlasmoDB (http://PlasmoDB.org) is the official database of the Plasmodium falciparum genome sequencing consortium. This resource incorporates the recently completed P. falciparum genome sequence and annotation, as well as draft sequence and annotation emerging from other Plasmodium sequencing projects. PlasmoDB currently houses information from five parasite species and provides tools for intra- and inter-species comparisons. Sequence information is integrated with other genomic-scale data emerging from the Plasmodium research community, including gene expression analysis from EST, SAGE and microarray projects and proteomics studies. The relational schema used to build PlasmoDB, GUS (Genomics Unified Schema) employs a highly structured format to accommodate the diverse data types generated by sequence and expression projects. A variety of tools allow researchers to formulate complex, biologically-based, queries of the database. A stand-alone version of the database is also available on CD-ROM (P. falciparum GenePlot), facilitating access to the data in situations where internet access is difficult (e.g. by malaria researchers working in the field). The goal of PlasmoDB is to facilitate utilization of the vast quantities of genomic-scale data produced by the global malaria research community. The software used to develop PlasmoDB has been used to create a second Apicomplexan parasite genome database, ToxoDB (http://ToxoDB.org).
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PMID:PlasmoDB: the Plasmodium genome resource. A database integrating experimental and computational data. 1251 84

Full-malaria (http://fullmal.ims.u-tokyo.ac.jp), a database for full-length cDNAs from the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum has been updated in at least three points. (i) We added 8934 sequences generated from the addition of new libraries, so that our collection of 11,424 full-length cDNAs covers 1375 (25%) of the estimated number of the entire 5409 parasite genes. (ii) All of our full-length cDNAs and GenBank EST sequences were mapped to genomic sequences together with publicly available annotated genes and other predictions. This precisely determined the gene structures and positions of the transcriptional start sites, which are indispensable for the identification of the promoter regions. (iii) A total of 4257 cDNA sequences were newly generated from murine malaria parasites, Plasmodium yoelii yoelii. The genome/cDNA sequences were compared at both nucleotide and amino acid levels, with those of P.falciparum, and the sequence alignment for each gene is presented graphically. This part of the database serves as a versatile platform to elucidate the function(s) of malaria genes by a comparative genomic approach. It should also be noted that all of the cDNAs represented in this database are supported by physical cDNA clones, which are publicly and freely available, and should serve as indispensable resources to explore functional analyses of malaria genomes.
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PMID:Full-malaria 2004: an enlarged database for comparative studies of full-length cDNAs of malaria parasites, Plasmodium species. 1468 28

Parasitic protozoa infecting humans have a staggering impact on public health, especially in the developing world. Furthermore, several protozoan species are major pathogens of domestic animals and have a considerable impact on food production. In many instances, the parasites have developed resistance against available chemotherapeutic agents, making the search for alternative drugs a priority. In line with the current interest in protein kinases inhibitors as potential drugs against a variety of diseases, the possibility that protein kinases may represent targets for novel anti-parasitic agents is being explored. Research into parasite protein kinases has benefited greatly from genome and EST sequencing projects, with the genomes of a few species fully sequenced (notably that of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum) and several more under way. The overall picture that emerged from research in this area shows that the phylogenetic isolation of parasitic protozoa is reflected by atypical structural and functional properties of many of their protein kinase homologues. Likewise, evidence is emerging, which suggests that the organisation of some otherwise well-conserved signal transduction pathways is divergent in some parasitic species. The differences between protein kinases of a parasite and their homologues in its host cell suggest that specific inhibition of the former can be achieved. The development of anti-parasitic drugs based on protein kinase inhibition is being pursued following two avenues: one consists of screening chemical libraries on recombinant enzymes; several protein kinases from parasitic protozoa are now available for this approach. The second approach relies on the identification of the molecular targets of kinase inhibitors which display anti-parasitic properties. This has led to promising developments in a few instances, in particular regarding PKG as a drug target against Eimeria and Toxoplasma, and purvalanol B, a purine-based CDK inhibitor which appears to affect unexpected targets in several protozoan parasites. The recent resolution of the structure of a Plasmodium protein kinase complexed with small inhibitory molecules opens the way to a rational approach towards the design of anti-parasitic drugs based on kinase inhibition.
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PMID:Protein kinases as targets for anti-parasitic chemotherapy. 1502 58

Here, we present an analysis of 215,634 EST and cDNA sequences of a major vector of human malaria Anopheles gambiae structured into the AnoEST database. The expressed sequences are grouped into clusters using genomic sequence as template and associated with inferred functional annotation, including the following: corresponding Ensembl gene prediction, putative orthologous genes in other species, homology to known proteins, protein domains, associated Gene Ontology terms, and corresponding classification into broad GO-slim functional groups. AnoEST is a vital resource for interpretation of expression profiles derived using recently developed A. gambiae cDNA microarrays. Using these cDNA microarrays, we have experimentally confirmed the expression of 7961 clusters during mosquito development. Of these, 3100 are not associated with currently predicted genes. Moreover, we found that clusters with confirmed expression are nonbiased with respect to the current gene annotation or homology to known proteins. Consequently, we expect that many as yet unconfirmed clusters are likely to be actual A. gambiae genes. [AnoEST is publicly available at http://komar.embl.de, and is also accessible as a Distributed Annotation Service (DAS).].
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PMID:AnoEST: toward A. gambiae functional genomics. 1589 67

A microarray containing approximately 20 000 expressed sequence tags (ESTs; 11 760 unique EST clusters) from the malaria vector, Anopheles gambiae, was used to monitor differences in global gene expression in two insecticide resistant and one susceptible strains. Statistical analysis identified 77 ESTs that were differentially transcribed among the three strains. These include the cytochrome P450 CYP314A1, over-transcribed in the DDT resistant ZAN/U strain, and many genes that belong to families not usually associated with insecticide resistance, such as peptidases, sodium/calcium exchangers and genes implicated in lipid and carbohydrate metabolism. Short-term (6 and 10 h) effects of exposure of the pyrethroid resistant RSP strain to permethrin were also detected. Several genes belonging to enzyme families already implicated in insecticide or xenobiotic detoxification were induced, including the carboxylesterase COEAE2F gene and members of the UDP-glucuronosyl transferase and nitrilase families.
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PMID:Gene expression in insecticide resistant and susceptible Anopheles gambiae strains constitutively or after insecticide exposure. 1616 7


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