The molecular biology of the clinically silent pre-erythrocytic stages of mammalian Plasmodium spp, composed of both the sporozoite and liver stages, has remained largely uncharacterized. Improved understanding of the biological processes required for progression through the pre-erythrocytic stages could lead to the identification of novel drug and vaccine targets.

Functional validation of common putative export domains of malaria parasites in P. berghei provides an alternative and simpler system to investigate export mechanisms.

We present results of two intensive mark-release-recapture surveys conducted during the wet and dry seasons of 2008 in the villages of Fourda and Kenieroba, Mali. The former is a small fishing village by the Niger River with a moderate to high densities of Anopheles gambiae Giles s.s. (Diptera: Culicidae) throughout the year, while the latter is a large agricultural community 2 km inland that experiences strong seasonal fluctuation in An. gambiae densities.

Plasmodium falciparum lacks the de novo purine biosynthesis pathway and relies entirely on the salvage pathway to meet its purine nucleotide requirements. The entire flux for purine nucleotide biosynthesis in the parasite is believed to be through hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRT), with the enzymes, adenosine kinase and adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (APRT) being unannotated in the Plasmodium genome database.

Malaria continues to cause millions of deaths annually. No specific effective treatment has yet been found for cerebral malaria, one of the most severe complications of the disease.

Detailed functional studies on the antigen have remained hampered by the cross-reactive nature of antibodies generated to Pf332. Pf332-C231, identified in the C-terminal region of Pf332 was cloned and antibodies against the C231 fragment were shown to react with intact Pf332 antigen by both immunofluorescence and immunoblotting analyses.

IgM is an ancestral Ab class found in all jawed vertebrates, from sharks to mammals. This ancient ancestry is shared by malaria parasites (genus Plasmodium) that infect all classes of terrestrial vertebrates with whom they coevolved.

Our case suggests that P. malariae may cause life-threatening disease, and that disease severity may be linked, at least in part, to multiple susceptibility genes.

The immunogenicity of rPvMSP10 was tested in Aotus monkeys, comparing responses induced by formulations with Freund's adjuvant, Montanide ISA720 or aluminum hydroxide.

Two Australian blood donors were diagnosed with relapsing Plasmodium vivax malaria 5 and 15 months, respectively, after their most recent travel to a malaria-endemic country.