Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2004 Jul 14:3:24.
doi: 10.1186/1475-2875-3-24.

Gametocytogenesis: the puberty of Plasmodium falciparum

Arthur M Talman  1 , Olivier Domarle, F Ellis McKenzie, Frédéric Ariey, Vincent Robert
Affiliations
Review

Gametocytogenesis: the puberty of Plasmodium falciparum

Arthur M Talman et al. Malar J. .

Abstract

The protozoan Plasmodium falciparum has a complex life cycle in which asexual multiplication in the vertebrate host alternates with an obligate sexual reproduction in the anopheline mosquito. Apart from the apparent recombination advantages conferred by sex, P. falciparum has evolved a remarkable biology and adaptive phenotypes to insure its transmission despite the dangers of sex. This review mainly focuses on the current knowledge on commitment to sexual development, gametocytogenesis and the evolutionary significance of various aspects of gametocyte biology. It goes further than pure biology to look at the strategies used to improve successful transmission. Although gametocytes are inevitable stages for transmission and provide a potential target to fight malaria, they have received less attention than the pathogenic asexual stages. There is a need for research on gametocytes, which are a fascinating stage, responsible to a large extent for the success of P. falciparum.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mature female (F) and male (M) gametocytes and trophozoites (T) of Plasmodium falciparum in the blood of malaria-infected patient. This picture is a composite of several pictures originating from the same Giemsa-stained thin smear.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Bell G. The masterpiece of nature: The evolution and genetics of sexuality. Berkeley: University of California Press; 1982.
    1. Otto SP, Lenormand T. Resolving the paradox of sex and recombination. Nat Rev Genet. 2002;3:252–261. doi: 10.1038/nrg761. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Eichner M, Diebner HH, Molineaux L, Collins WE, Jeffery GM, Dietz K. Genesis, sequestration and survival of Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes: parameter estimates from fitting a model to malariatherapy data. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2001;95:497–501. doi: 10.1016/S0035-9203(01)90016-1. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Day KP, Hayward RE, Dyer M. The biology of Plasmodium falciparum transmission stages. Parasitology. 1998;116:S95–S109. doi: 10.1017/S0031182097002370. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Robert V, Boudin C. Biologie de la transmission homme-moustique du Plasmodium. Bull Soc Pathol Exot. 2003;96:6–20. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources