ArticleMalaria journal2016
A yeast strain associated to Anopheles mosquitoes produces a toxin able to kill malaria parasites.
Article in Malaria journal, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- Fungal microbiota diversity inWellcome open research · 2026Pooled it
- The Adult Aedes aegypti Bacterial Microbiota is Robust to Infection with the Obligate Microsporidian Parasite Edhazardia aedis.Environmental microbiology · 2026Article
- Microsporidian infection of mosquito larvae changes the host-associated microbiome towards the synthesis of antimicrobial factors.Parasites & vectors · 2025Article
- Medical Potential of Insect Symbionts.Insects · 2025Review
- Antimicrobial activity of immobilized mycocins in sodium alginate on fecal coliforms.Water science and technology : a journal of the International Association on Water Pollution Research · 2025Article
- A novel inhibitory strategy ofFuture microbiology · 2025Article
- Impact of the microbiome on mosquito-borne diseases.Protein & cell · 2023Review
- Microbiota in disease-transmitting vectors.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2023Review
- Holobiont perspectives on tripartite interactions among microbiota, mosquitoes, and pathogens.The ISME journal · 2023Review
- Tripartite interactions comprising yeast-endobacteria systems in the gut of vector mosquitoes.Frontiers in microbiology · 2023Article
- Contemporary exploitation of natural products for arthropod-borne pathogen transmission-blocking interventions.Parasites & vectors · 2022Review
- Formulation and Safety Tests of aToxins · 2021Article
- Review
- Diversity and Functions of Yeast Communities Associated with Insects.Microorganisms · 2021Review
- Article
- Antibiotic Activity of Wickerhamomyces anomalus Mycocins on Multidrug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii.Microbial ecology · 2020Article
- Mosquito Mycobiota: An Overview of Non-Entomopathogenic Fungal Interactions.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Review
- Review
- Identification of a Killer Toxin fromToxins · 2019Article
- Killer yeasts exert anti-plasmodial activities against the malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei in the vector mosquito Anopheles stephensi and in mice.Parasites & vectors · 2019Article
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMalaria control strategies are focusing on new approaches, such as the symbiotic control, which consists in the use of microbial symbionts to prevent parasite development in the mosquito gut and to block the transmission of the infection to humans. Several microbes, bacteria and fungi, have been proposed for malaria or other mosquito-borne diseases control strategies. Among these, the yeast Wickerhamomyces anomalus has been recently isolated from the gut of Anopheles mosquitoes, where it releases a natural antimicrobial toxin. Interestingly, many environmental strains of W. anomalus exert a wide anti-bacterial/fungal activity and some of these 'killer' yeasts are already used in industrial applications as food and feed bio-preservation agents. Since a few studies showed that W. anomalus killer strains have antimicrobial effects also against protozoan parasites, the possible anti-plasmodial activity of the yeast was investigated.
methodsA yeast killer toxin (KT), purified through combined chromatographic techniques from a W. anomalus strain isolated from the malaria vector Anopheles stephensi, was tested as an effector molecule to target the sporogonic stages of the rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei, in vitro. Giemsa staining was used to detect morphological damages in zygotes/ookinetes after treatment with the KT. Furthermore, the possible mechanism of action of the KT was investigated pre-incubating the protein with castanospermine, an inhibitor of β-glucanase activity.
resultsA strong anti-plasmodial effect was observed when the P. berghei sporogonic stages were treated with KT, obtaining an inhibition percentage up to around 90%. Microscopy analysis revealed several ookinete alterations at morphological and structural level, suggesting the direct implication of the KT-enzymatic activity. Moreover, evidences of the reduction of KT activity upon treatment with castanospermine propose a β-glucanase-mediated activity.
conclusionThe results showed the in vitro killing efficacy of a protein produced by a mosquito strain of W. anomalus against malaria parasites. Further studies are required to test the KT activity against the sporogonic stages in vivo, nevertheless this work opens new perspectives for the possible use of killer strains in innovative strategies to impede the development of the malaria parasite in mosquito vectors by the means of microbial symbionts.
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