title: Ecological influences on the behaviour and fertility of malaria parasites.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Sexual reproduction in the mosquito is essential for the transmission of malaria parasites and a major target for transmission-blocking interventions. Male gametes need to locate and fertilize females in the challenging environment of the mosquito blood meal, but remarkably little is known about the ecology and behaviour of male gametes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Here, a series of experiments explores how some aspects of the chemical and physical environment experienced during mating impacts upon the production, motility, and fertility of male gametes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Specifically, the data confirm that: (a) rates of male gametogenesis vary when induced by the family of compounds (tryptophan metabolites) thought to trigger gamete differentiation in nature; and (b) complex relationships between gametogenesis and mating success exist across parasite species. In addition, the data reveal that (c) microparticles of the same size as red blood cells negatively affect mating success; and (d) instead of swimming in random directions, male gametes may be attracted by female gametes. Understanding the mating ecology of malaria parasites, may offer novel approaches for blocking transmission and explain adaptation to different species of mosquito vectors.
authors.affiliation: Ashworth Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences, Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Lucy M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.affiliation: Ashworth Laboratories, Centre for Immunity, Infection and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Laura C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Pollitt
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of York, Heslington York, YO10 5DD, UK.|The Rowland Institute at Harvard, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA.
authors.forename: Laurence G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: Ashworth Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences, Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. sarah.reece@ed.ac.uk.|Ashworth Laboratories, Centre for Immunity, Infection and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. sarah.reece@ed.ac.uk.|Ashworth Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences, Institute of Immunology and Infection Research, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. sarah.reece@ed.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Sarah E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Reece
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000469:parasitology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005298:Fertility; D005718:Gametogenesis; D005854:Germ Cells / Q000502:physiology; D000072138:Mosquito Vectors / Q000469:parasitology*; D010316:Particle Size; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000502:physiology*; D014364:Tryptophan / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014364:Tryptophan
keywords: Blood meal; Fertilization; Malaria; Microgamete; Transmission