Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34023299›Full record

ReviewMolecular and biochemical parasitology2021

The private life of malaria parasites: Strategies for sexual reproduction.

Petra Schneider, Sarah E Reece

Open access · hybridAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Molecular and biochemical parasitology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
20citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
5.1field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 31 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Plastic responses ofBiology letters · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Time to start taking time seriously: how to investigate unexpected biological rhythms within infectious disease research.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025
    Review
  5. Phenotypic and fitness consequences of plasticity in the rhythmic replication of malaria parasites.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. Article
  13. Declines in prevalence alter the optimal level of sexual investment for the malaria parasiteProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022
    Article
  14. Monoclonal antibodies for malaria prevention.Molecular therapy : the journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy · 2022
    Review
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Adapt or Die: Targeting Unique Transmission-Stage Biology for Malaria Elimination.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2022
    Review
  19. Streamlined and Robust Stage-Specific Profiling of Gametocytocidal Compounds AgainstFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2022
    Article
  20. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Petra SchneiderInstitute of Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Immunology and Infection Research, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. Electronic address: petra.schneider@ed.ac.uk.
Sarah E ReeceInstitute of Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Immunology and Infection Research, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Centre for Immunity, Infection and Evolution · GB

Funding

Wellcome Trust 202769/Z/16/Z
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Malaria parasites exhibit a complex lifecycle, requiring extensive asexual replication in the liver and blood of the vertebrate host, and in the haemocoel of the insect vector. Yet, they must also undergo a single round of sexual reproduction, which occurs in the vector's midgut upon uptake of a blood meal. Sexual reproduction is obligate for infection of the vector and thus, is essential for onwards transmission to new hosts. Sex in malaria parasites involves several bottlenecks in parasite number, making the stages involved attractive targets for blocking disease transmission. Malaria parasites have evolved a suite of adaptations ("strategies") to maximise the success of sexual reproduction and transmission, which could undermine transmission-blocking interventions. Yet, understanding parasite strategies may also reveal novel opportunities for such interventions. Here, we outline how evolutionary and ecological theories, developed to explain reproductive strategies in multicellular taxa, can be applied to explain two reproductive strategies (conversion rate and sex ratio) expressed by malaria parasites within the vertebrate host.

Indexed as

GametogenesisAnimalsBiological CoevolutionCulicidaeErythrocytesFemaleHost-Parasite InteractionsHumansInsect VectorsLife Cycle StagesLiverMalariaMalePlasmodium bergheiPlasmodium chabaudiPlasmodium falciparumAdaptationFitnessGametocyteLife history traitPhenotypic plasticityTransmission

Identifiers

PMID34023299
PMCPMC8346949
OpenAlexW3164727979

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.