title: Caudal is a negative regulator of the Anopheles IMD pathway that controls resistance to Plasmodium falciparum infection.
abstract: Malaria parasite transmission depends upon the successful development of Plasmodium in its Anopheles mosquito vector. The mosquito's innate immune system constitutes a major bottleneck for parasite population growth. We show here that in Anopheles gambiae, the midgut-specific transcription factor Caudal acts as a negative regulator in the Imd pathway-mediated immune response against the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Caudal also modulates the mosquito midgut bacterial flora. RNAi-mediated silencing of Caudal enhanced the mosquito's resistance to bacterial infections and increased the transcriptional abundance of key immune effector genes. Interestingly, Caudal's silencing resulted in an increased lifespan of the mosquito, while it impaired reproductive fitness with respect to egg laying and hatching.
authors.affiliation: W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
authors.forename: April M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Clayton
authors.forename: Chris M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Cirimotich
authors.forename: Yuemei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dimopoulos
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D004064:Digestive System / Q000382:microbiology; D056084:Genetic Fitness / Q000235:genetics; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions / Q000235:genetics; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000635:transmission; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000276:immunology* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D034622:RNA Interference; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000502:physiology; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D019476:Insect Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors