Authors

Discussion

Malaria transmitted by Plasmodium falciparum progresses through various developmental stages within the Anopheles sp. and can be transmitted to humans by female Anopheles mosquitoes. In view of the efforts towards the global eradication of malaria, population modification of the vector mosquito populations by efficient introgression of antimalarial gene(s) is being explored.

A previously characterized dual-effector, transgenic Anopheles stephensi mosquito line expressing single-chain antibodies (scFvs), namely m2A10 and m1C3 targeting the Plasmodium antigens, Circumsporozoite protein and Chitinase, was challenged with the rodent parasite Plasmodium berghei chimeric for the Plasmodium falciparum CSP antigen. Further these infected transgenic mosquitoes were used to infect a naïve mouse and the reinfected parasite was harvested at every infection cycle for four subsequent generations. Across the four generations, there was a delay observed in the appearance of the parasite upon reinfection.

The study successfully establishes an in vitro experimental evolution model, which can be used to evaluate the  risk associated with mosquito transgenesis for the probable genetic changes  that could occur in the gene encoding Plasmodium antigen(s), upon the multi-generational interactions with the scFvs expressed in the transgenic Anopheles stephensi.