Parasite biology

Prof Birkholtz investigates gene regulatory  mechanisms underlying the pathogenic processes that drive both asexual proliferation as well as gametocyte differentiation of malaria parasites.

We aim to understand the mechanisms the parasite uses to ensure a controlled transition during the different stages that the parasite progresses through, both during asexual proliferation as well as gametocyte differentiation. We are particularly interested in what we propose to be regulatory points within the asexual cycle and sexual development and are trying to define the mechanisms that contribute to this. This is a substantial research challenge, and one we approach from a systems level. We therefore generate global descriptors of asexual parasite proliferation and gametocyte differentiation, to tease apart the molecular regulators involved. With this we provided a reference landscape of gametocyte development compared to asexual proliferation on both transcriptional and epigenomic levels and we infer several regulatory functions that we are exploring further with gene manipulation techniques. This information is also directly informative and provide meaningful information on essential druggable processes.