scRNA-seq of rodent malaria parasites (P. berghei) and their host cells in spleen, bone marrow and blood

The malaria parasite Plasmodium replicates and differentiates in red blood cells of its host. The erythropoietic niches (spleen and bone marrow) are important but poorly understood reservoirs of asexual replication and sexual development. We aimed to understand how the parasite adapts to its host organ and a host cell level. For this, we performed single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) analysis on host and parasite cells derived from spleen, blood and bone marrow. Organs were harvested from two infected and one uninfected mice and parasite cells were enriched to about 50% by flow sorting (infected samples only). To identify host cells by surface expression (CITE-seq), cells were stained with barcoded antibodies targeting CD44 and CD71. Droplet-based scRNA-seq of these samples was performed using 10X genomics technology and cDNA was sequenced on Illumina.