A thermo-resistant and RNase-sensitive cargo from extracellular vesicles modifies the behaviour of enterobacteria.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) recently emerged as important players in the pathophysiology of parasitic infections. While the protist parasite  can produce EVs, their role in giardiasis remains obscure. can disrupt gut microbiota biofilms and transform commensal bacteria into invasive pathobionts at sites devoid of colonizing trophozoites via unknown mechanisms.

Transcriptomic analysis of albendazole resistance in human diarrheal parasite Giardia duodenalis.

Benzimidazole-2-carbamates (BZ, e.g., albendazole; ALB), which bind β-tubulin to disrupt microtubule polymerization, are one of two primary compound classes used to treat giardiasis.

Single-Cell Transcriptomics To Define Plasmodium falciparum Stage Transition in the Mosquito Midgut.

Malaria inflicts the highest rate of morbidity and mortality among the vector-borne diseases. The dramatic bottleneck of parasite numbers that occurs in the gut of the obligatory mosquito vector provides a promising target for novel control strategies. Using single-cell transcriptomics, we analyzed Plasmodium falciparum development in the mosquito gut, from unfertilized female gametes through the first 20 h after blood feeding, including the zygote and ookinete stages.

Single-cell RNA profiling of -infected hepatocytes reveals parasite- and host- specific transcriptomic signatures and therapeutic targets.

The resilience of , the most widely-distributed malaria-causing parasite in humans, is attributed to its ability to produce dormant liver forms known as hypnozoites, which can activate weeks, months, or even years after an initial mosquito bite. The factors underlying hypnozoite formation and activation are poorly understood, as is the parasite's influence on the host hepatocyte. Here, we shed light on transcriptome-wide signatures of both the parasite and the infected host cell by sequencing over 1,000 -infected hepatocytes at single-cell resolution.

Precise gene models using long-read sequencing reveal a unique poly(A) signal in .

During pre-mRNA processing, the poly(A) signal is recognized by a protein complex that ensures precise cleavage and polyadenylation of the nascent transcript. The location of this cleavage event establishes the length and sequence of the 3' UTR of an mRNA, thus determining much of its post-transcriptional fate. Using long-read sequencing, we characterize the polyadenylation signal and related sequences surrounding cleavage sites for over 2600 genes.

Multimodal regulation of encystation in Giardia duodenalis revealed by deep proteomics.

Cyst formation in the parasitic protist Giardia duodenalis is critical to its transmission. Existing proteomic data quantifies only 17% of coding genes transcribed during encystation and does not cover the complete process from trophozoite to mature cyst. Using high-resolution mass spectrometry, we have quantified proteomic changes across encystation and compared this with published transcriptomic data.

Eukaryote-conserved histone post-translational modification landscape in Giardia duodenalis revealed by mass spectrometry.

Diarrheal disease caused by Giardia duodenalis is highly prevalent, causing over 200 million cases globally each year. The processes that drive parasite virulence, host immune evasion and transmission involve coordinated gene expression and have been linked to epigenetic regulation. Epigenetic regulatory systems are eukaryote-conserved, including in deep branching excavates such as Giardia, with several studies already implicating histone post-translational modifications in regulation of its pathogenesis and life cycle.

Eukaryote-Conserved Methylarginine Is Absent in Diplomonads and Functionally Compensated in Giardia.

Methylation is a common posttranslational modification of arginine and lysine in eukaryotic proteins. Methylproteomes are best characterized for higher eukaryotes, where they are functionally expanded and evolved complex regulation. However, this is not the case for protist species evolved from the earliest eukaryotic lineages.

Recent advances in functional research in Giardia intestinalis.

This review considers current advances in tools to investigate the functional biology of Giardia, it's coding and non-coding genes, features and cellular and molecular biology. We consider major gaps in current knowledge of the parasite and discuss the present state-of-the-art in its in vivo and in vitro cultivation. Advances in in silico tools, including for the modelling non-coding RNAs and genomic elements, as well as detailed exploration of coding genes through inferred homology to model organisms, have provided significant, primary level insight.

Insights into physiological roles of unique metabolites released from Plasmodium-infected RBCs and their potential as clinical biomarkers for malaria.

Plasmodium sp. are obligate intracellular parasites that derive most of their nutrients from their host meaning the metabolic circuitry of both are intricately linked. We employed untargeted, global mass spectrometry to identify metabolites present in the culture supernatants of P.

Commit, hide and escape: the story of Plasmodium gametocytes.

Malaria is the major cause of mortality and morbidity in tropical countries. The causative agent, Plasmodium sp., has a complex life cycle and is armed with various mechanisms which ensure its continuous transmission.

A disrupted transsulphuration pathway results in accumulation of redox metabolites and induction of gametocytogenesis in malaria.

Intra-erythrocytic growth of malaria parasite is known to induce redox stress. In addition to haem degradation which generates reactive oxygen species (ROS), the parasite is also thought to efflux redox active homocysteine. To understand the basis underlying accumulation of homocysteine, we have examined the transsulphuration (TS) pathway in the parasite, which is known to convert homocysteine to cysteine in higher eukaryotes.