Vector control: agents of selection on malaria parasites?

Targeting malaria parasites inside mosquitoes: ecoevolutionary consequences

“…The evolution of resistance to insecticides takes many forms, including alterations to the mosquito’s cuticle to reduce insecticide penetration [ 3 ] and elevated metabolic detoxification [ 4 ]. Both mechanisms provide parasites with viable vectors and could reduce any cytotoxic effects of insecticides on parasite development [ 5 ]. When applied to humans, antimalarial chemotherapy targets blood-stage parasites, and drug resistance/tolerance (see Glossary) has evolved against nearly every antimalarial compound widely deployed, including the current frontline therapy, artemisinin derivatives [ 6 ], making novel interventions to augment the existing tool kit urgently needed.…”

“…Insecticides interrupt malaria transmission by shortening the mosquito’s lifespan. Thus, as mosquitoes evolve resistance against an insecticide, the loss of transmission is mitigated through mosquito evolution, potentially at no cost to the parasites themselves [ 5 ]. Some compounds that can target sporogony also have adverse fitness consequences for mosquitoes.…”

Searching for new molecules involved in <i>Anopheles</i> mosquitoes’ response to <i>Plasmodium</i> infection

“…The released sporozoites enter the salivary glands and are transmitted when the mosquitoes feed on blood from mammalian hosts. In parallel with this life cycle, mosquitoes undertake blood meal digestion and the gonotrophic cycle [ 9 ]. These reactions alter the development of parasites in mosquitoes.…”