Kinetics of Plasmodium midgut invasion in Anopheles mosquitoes.

Author summary The traversal of the mosquito midgut cells is one of the critical stages in the life cycle of malaria parasites. Motile parasite forms, called ookinetes, traverse the midgut epithelium in a dynamic process which is not fully understood. Here, we harnessed transgenic reporters to track invasion ofPlasmodiumparasites in African and Indian mosquito species. We found important differences in parasite dynamics between the twoAnophelesspecies and demonstrated a role of the mosquito complement-like system in regulation of parasite invasion of the midgut cells. Malaria-causingPlasmodiumparasites traverse the mosquito midgut cells to establish infection at the basal side of the midgut. This dynamic process is a determinant of mosquito vector competence, yet the kinetics of the parasite migration is not well understood. Here we used transgenic mosquitoes of twoAnophelesspecies and aPlasmodium bergheifluorescence reporter line to track parasite passage through the mosquito tissues at high spatial resolution. We provide new quantitative insight into malaria parasite invasion in African and IndianAnophelesspecies and propose that the mosquito complement-like system contributes to the species-specific dynamics ofPlasmodiuminvasion.