Journal of Tropical Diseases & Public Health

Decoding molecular strategy of plasmodium vivax survival in the mosquito host

6^th International Conference on Infectious Diseases Prevention and Control & 5^th International conference on Pediatrics and Healthcare

May 16, 2022 | Webinar

Rajnikant Dixit

ICMR-National Institute of Malaria Research, India

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Trop Dis

Abstract:

Malaria transmission is heavily influenced by a tissuespecific mosquito–parasite interaction. Immediately after ingestion of an infected blood meal, Plasmodium rapidly senses and adapts to the microenvironment in the mosquito host. The exponential growth of gut microbiota following uptake of blood meal leads to robust enhancement of mosquito immune response which is detrimental to parasite survival and development. Our gut-meta-transcriptomic study reveals that during indirect interaction of 24-30 hrs in the gut lumen the Plasmodium vivax steers clear of mosquito immune response by suppressing the bacterial population (most likely by scavenging Fe from the blood meal which is indispensable for bacterial growth) for its own development. During the plasmodium journey, it invades and interacts with different tissues of the vector, and needs to overcome and/ or adjust immune response and metabolic fluctuation. The complex tissue-specific interaction between host and parasite, especially P. vivax at the molecular level is still a conundrum, our RNAseq analysis demonstrates that the switch of parasites from one stage to another stage is accompanied by genetic changes of the parasite. Possibly, by this practice, the parasite evades the multifaceted immune response generated by the vector and manipulates the metabolism of mosquito tissues for its own survival and transmission. Disruption of this peculiar tissue-specific interaction may help to design a new molecular tool to halt the plasmodium development within vector mosquitoes.

Biography :

Rajnikant Dixit completed his Ph.D. at the age of 27 years from M.D. University, India. He is working as a Senior Scientist at ICMR-National Institute of Malaria Research, New Delhi, India, and is currently focused to identify molecular factors affecting mosquito vector competence and parasite transmission. To decode tissue-specific molecular complexity, his lab is using high throughput RNAseq, Proteomics, metagenomics, coupled with spatial/temporal expression profiling, and dsRNA mediated gene silencing strategies. Overall, his ultimate goal is to find and select key molecular targets essential for Plasmodium development/survival inside the mosquito as well as human host and generate a translatable scientific flow of knowledge implementable from Lab-to-land. He has over 40 publications that have been cited over 1400 times, and his publication i10- index is 24, and has been serving as a review editor/member of reputed Journals.