Plasmodium sporozoites must undergo tightly regulated developmental transitions to become infectious and be successfully transmitted from the mosquito vector to a mammalian host. While transcriptomic studies have revealed stage-specific changes across sporozoite populations, the functional consequences of these transitions remain unclear.
ORIGINAL PAPER
Spatiotemporal analysis of sporozoite maturation and infectivity
WHAT WE KNOW
Here, using P. berghei, we characterised over time the infectivity of sporozoite forms collected from the midgut, haemolymph, salivary glands and saliva. We show that salivary gland invasion is required but not sufficient for sporozoite optimal infectivity, with the acquisition of hepatocyte cell traversal and invasion progressively increasing until a plateau from 18 days post-infection onwards.
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Review the primary source, validate the main result, and establish whether any listed-company transmission is direct.
EVIDENCE
What the evidence supports so far
Research signals
Classification pending.
What remains unverified
The full methodology, effect size, and limitations still require analyst review.
Company impact remains unverified until a direct economic transmission is established.