Transgenic Plasmodium knowlesi: relieving a bottleneck in malaria research?
Plasmodium knowlesi is a primate malaria parasite that is phylogenetically close to the major human parasite Plasmodium vivax. P. knowlesi causes life-threatening disease in humans, infects a wide range of non-human primates and is one of few malaria parasites amenable to cyclical in vitro propagation. A robust in vivo and in vitro genetic manipulation system has been developed for this parasite, enabling in vitro-in vivo shuttling of transgenes, which (together with recent characterization of its genome and that of its macaque experimental host) offers unique opportunities to gain insight in molecular function and parasite-host interactions.
Kocken
Clemens H M
CH
Department of Parasitology, Biomedical Primate Research Centre, GH Rijswijk, The Netherlands.
Zeeman
Anne-Marie
AM
Voorberg-van der Wel
Annemarie
A
Thomas
Alan W
AW
D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000469:parasitology*; D023281:Genomics; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D006801:Humans; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008288:Malaria / Q000469:parasitology / Q000503:physiopathology; D030781:Organisms, Genetically Modified; D016790:Plasmodium knowlesi / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology; D040901:Proteomics; D012107:Research Design