Parasites were separated from red blood cells via incubation with 0.015% saponin at room temperature for 5 min. Cultures were then pelleted and washed three times in 10 mL room temperature PBS. Samples were stored at − 80 °C in 1 mL TRIzol reagent (Fisher Scientific, Hampton, NH) until extraction. At RNA extraction, 200 μl of chloroform was added and samples were vortexed vigorously for 15 seconds, followed by incubation at room temperature for up to 5 minutes. Samples were then spun down at 12000×g (10,800 rpm) at 4 °C for 10 minutes and the supernatant discarded. 1 mL of 75% ethanol was added to the pellet, and samples were spun down at 10000×g (9800 rpm) for 5 minutes. The resulting supernatant was discarded and the pellet briefly allowed to dry. The RNA pellet was then dissolved in 20–50 μl of DEPC-treated water while being incubated at 55 °C for 10–15 min. 0.5 μg–1.0 μg of RNA samples were prepped for sequencing using the Illumina TruSeq Stranded mRNA Kit as per kit protocol. Library quantification was measured by qPCR and TapeStation (Agilent Technologies). Sequencing was performed on an Illumina MiSeq using 300-cycle V2 MiSeq reagent kit (Illumina).