Gene regulation of the avian malaria parasite Plasmodium relictum, during the different stages within the mosquito vector

Malaria parasites, Plsmodium spp, belong to a highly diverse parasite system with species that can infect mammalian, reptilian and avian hosts. Despite the diversity within the system the majority of the Plasmodium species needs a blood-sucking mosquito as a vector to complete its life-cycle. In this study we used mosquitoes experimentally infected with an avian malaria parasite to study its gene expressions throughout the different life-stages within the vector. The study provides a comprehensive insight into the molecular mechanism of the most harmful avian malaria parasite, P. relictum, in its natural vector system. Further, as the knowledge gathered from this study is collected from a non-mammalian malaria parasite it contributes to our understanding of evolutionary conserved mechanism within the malaria system as well of allowing us to find molecular functions that are novel within both the avian and mammalian-malaria systems.