Editing Plasmodium falciparum (section)

===In mosquitoes===
Within the mosquito midgut, the female gamete maturation process entails slight morphological changes, becoming more enlarged and spherical. The male gametocyte undergoes a rapid nuclear division within 15 minutes, producing eight [[flagellum|flagellated]] [[microgamete]]s by a process called exflagellation.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Sinden|first1=R. E.|last2=Canning|first2=E. U.|last3=Bray|first3=R. S.|last4=Smalley|first4=M. E.|title=Gametocyte and Gamete Development in ''Plasmodium falciparum''|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|date=1978|volume=201|issue=1145|pages=375–399|doi=10.1098/rspb.1978.0051|pmid=27809|bibcode=1978RSPSB.201..375S|s2cid=27083717}}</ref> The flagellated microgamete fertilizes the female [[macrogamete]] to produce a [[diploid]] cell called a [[zygote]]. The zygote then develops into an [[ookinete]]. The ookinete is a motile cell, capable of invading other organs of the mosquito. It traverses the [[peritrophic membrane]] of the mosquito midgut and crosses the midgut epithelium. Once through the epithelium, the ookinete enters the [[basal lamina]] and settles into an immotile [[oocyst]]. For several days, the oocyst undergoes 10 to 11 rounds of cell division to create a [[syncytium|syncytial]] cell ([[sporoblast]]) containing thousands of nuclei. Meiosis takes place inside the sporoblast to produce over 3,000 haploid daughter cells called sporozoites on the surface of the mother cell.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Rungsiwongse|first1=Jarasporn|last2=Rosenberg|first2=Ronald|title=The Number of Sporozoites Produced by Individual Malaria Oocysts|journal=The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene|date=1991|volume=45|issue=5|pages=574–577|doi=10.4269/ajtmh.1991.45.574|pmid=1951866}}</ref> Immature sporozoites break through the oocyst wall into the [[haemolymph]]. They migrate to the mosquito salivary glands where they undergo further development and become infective to humans.<ref name="gerald"/>

'''Effects of plant secondary metabolites on ''P. falciparum'''''

Mosquitoes are known to forage on plant nectar for sugar meal, the primary source of energy and nutrients for their survival and other biological process such as host seeking for blood or searching for oviposition sites.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Foster |first=W. A. |date=1995-01-01 |title=Mosquito Sugar Feeding and Reproductive Energetics |url=http://ento.annualreviews.org/cgi/doi/10.1146/annurev.ento.40.1.443 |journal=Annual Review of Entomology |volume=40 |issue=1 |pages=443–474 |doi=10.1146/annurev.ento.40.1.443|pmid=7810991 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Researchers have recently discovered that mosquitoes are very selective about their sugar meal sources.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Nyasembe |first1=Vincent O. |last2=Teal |first2=Peter E.A. |last3=Sawa |first3=Patrick |last4=Tumlinson |first4=James H. |last5=Borgemeister |first5=Christian |last6=Torto |first6=Baldwyn |date=January 2014 |title=Plasmodium falciparum Infection Increases Anopheles gambiae Attraction to Nectar Sources and Sugar Uptake |journal=Current Biology |language=en |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=217–221 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2013.12.022|pmid=24412210 |pmc=3935215 |bibcode=2014CBio...24..217N }}</ref> For example ''Anopheles'' mosquitos prefer some plants over others, specifically those containing compounds that hinder the development and survival of malaria parasites inside the mosquito.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hien |first1=Domonbabele F. d. S. |last2=Dabiré |first2=Kounbobr R. |last3=Roche |first3=Benjamin |last4=Diabaté |first4=Abdoulaye |last5=Yerbanga |first5=Rakiswende S. |last6=Cohuet |first6=Anna |last7=Yameogo |first7=Bienvenue K. |last8=Gouagna |first8=Louis-Clément |last9=Hopkins |first9=Richard J. |last10=Ouedraogo |first10=Georges A. |last11=Simard |first11=Frédéric |last12=Ouedraogo |first12=Jean-Bosco |last13=Ignell |first13=Rickard |last14=Lefevre |first14=Thierry |date=2016-08-04 |editor-last=Vernick |editor-first=Kenneth D |title=Plant-Mediated Effects on Mosquito Capacity to Transmit Human Malaria |journal=PLOS Pathogens |language=en |volume=12 |issue=8 |pages=e1005773 |doi=10.1371/journal.ppat.1005773 |doi-access=free |issn=1553-7374 |pmc=4973987 |pmid=27490374}}</ref> This discovery offers an opportunity to look into what could be playing a role in these behavior changes in mosquitoes and also find out what they ingest when they foraged on the selected plants. In other studies, it has been shown that sources of sugars and some secondary metabolites e.g. ricinine, have contrasting effects on mosquito capacity to transmit the parasites malaria.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hien |first1=Domonbabele F. D. S. |last2=Paré |first2=Prisca S. L. |last3=Cooper |first3=Amanda |last4=Koama |first4=Benjamin K. |last5=Guissou |first5=Edwige |last6=Yaméogo |first6=Koudraogo B. |last7=Yerbanga |first7=Rakiswendé S. |last8=Farrell |first8=Iain W. |last9=Ouédraogo |first9=Jean B. |last10=Gnankiné |first10=Olivier |last11=Ignell |first11=Rickard |last12=Cohuet |first12=Anna |last13=Dabiré |first13=Roch K. |last14=Stevenson |first14=Philip C. |last15=Lefèvre |first15=Thierry |date=December 2021 |title=Contrasting effects of the alkaloid ricinine on the capacity of Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles coluzzii to transmit Plasmodium falciparum |journal=Parasites & Vectors |language=en |volume=14 |issue=1 |page=479 |doi=10.1186/s13071-021-04992-z |doi-access=free |issn=1756-3305 |pmc=8444468 |pmid=34526119}}</ref>