Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39739757›Full record

ArticleNucleic acids research2025

A scaleable inducible knockout system for studying essential gene function in the malaria parasite.

Abhinay Ramaprasad, Michael J Blackman

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nucleic acids research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

7 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Identification of a novel rhoptry protein expressed predominantly inFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025
    Article
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.

Abhinay RamaprasadMalaria Biochemistry Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, 1 Midland Road, NW1 1AT London, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-9372-5526
Michael J BlackmanMalaria Biochemistry Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, 1 Midland Road, NW1 1AT London, UK.

Funding

Cancer Research UK CC2129European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious DiseasesHORIZON EUROPE Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions 751865Wellcome Trust 220318/A/20/ZWellcome Trust CC2129
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The malaria parasite needs nearly half of its genes to propagate normally within red blood cells. Inducible ways to interfere with gene expression like the DiCre-lox system are necessary to study the function of these essential genes. However, existing DiCre-lox strategies are not well-suited to be deployed at scale to study several genes simultaneously. To overcome this, we have developed SHIFTiKO (frameshift-based trackable inducible knockout), a novel scaleable strategy that uses short, easy-to-construct, barcoded repair templates to insert loxP sites around short regions in target genes. Induced DiCre-mediated excision of the flanked region causes a frameshift mutation resulting in genetic ablation of gene function. Dual DNA barcodes inserted into each mutant enables verification of successful modification and induced excision at each locus and collective phenotyping of the mutants, not only across multiple replication cycles to assess growth fitness but also within a single cycle to identify specific phenotypic impairments. As a proof of concept, we have applied SHIFTiKO to screen the functions of malarial rhomboid proteases, successfully identifying their blood stage-specific essentiality. SHIFTiKO thus offers a powerful platform to conduct inducible phenotypic screens to study essential gene function at scale in the malaria parasite.

Indexed as

Gene Knockout TechniquesGenes, EssentialPlasmodium falciparumAnimalsErythrocytesFrameshift MutationHumansProtozoan ProteinsProtozoan Proteins

Identifiers

PMID39739757
PMCPMC11879119

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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 OpenQuestion graph.