The relevance and applicability of oocyst prevalence as a read-out for mosquito feeding assays.

Mosquito feeding assays are important in evaluations of malaria transmission-reducing interventions. The proportion of mosquitoes with midgut oocysts is commonly used as an outcome measure, but in natural low intensity infections the effect of oocyst non-rupture on mosquito infectivity is unclear. By identifying ruptured as well as intact oocysts, we show that in low intensity P.

Pfs47, paralog of the male fertility factor Pfs48/45, is a female specific surface protein in Plasmodium falciparum.

The genome of Plasmodium falciparum contains a small gene family that expresses proteins characterized by the presence of 6-cysteine domains. Most of these proteins are expressed on the surface of the parasite and some are known to play a role in cell-cell interactions. Two members of this family, Pfs48/45 and Pfs230, form a complex localized on the surface of gametes and are recognized as important targets for transmission-blocking vaccines.