Derbyshire Lab Sets Foundation for Inhibiting Transmission of Malaria Parasite

ERD

The Derbyshire lab is examining biosynthetic gene clusters of bacteria isolated from the gut of Anopheles mosquitoes, the main vector for the transmission of malaria. Through a bioinformatic analysis, iron-binding siderophores were abundant within microbiome bacteria. After testing the metabolites, two siderophores disrupt mosquito reproduction and also inhibit blood and liver forms of the malaria parasite. Overall, this study sets a foundation for new vector control strategies to inhibit the transmission of the malaria parasite. Read more in a recently published Cell Chemical Biology, available here.