Scientists claim to have identified a bacterium which nips malaria in the bud by stopping the development of Plasmodium falciparum parasite that causes the disease in humans.
Malaria afflicts more than 225 million people worldwide. Each year, the disease kills nearly 800,000 people.
Now, a team at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has found that the Enterobacter bacterium is part of the naturally occurring microbial flora of the mosquito's gut and kills the parasite by producing reactive oxygen species, the 'Science' journal reported.
"In this study we show that certain bacteria can directly block the malaria parasite's development through the production of free radicals that are detrimental to Plasmodium in the mosquito gut.
"We are particularly excited about this discovery because it may explain why mosquitoes of the same species and strain sometimes differ in their resistance to the parasite, and we may also use this knowledge to develop novel methods to stop the spread of malaria.
One biocontrol strategy may, for example, rely on the exposure of mosquitoes in the field to this natural bacterium, resulting in resistance to the malaria parasite," said George Dimopoulos, who led the team.
In their study, the scientists isolated the Enterobacter bacterium from the midgut of Anopheles mosquitoes collected near their institute located in southern Zambia.
About 25 percent of the mosquitoes collected contained the specific bacteria strain. Laboratory studies showed the bacterium inhibited the growth of Plasmodium up to 99 per cent, both in the mosquito gut and in a test tube culture of the human malaria parasite. Higher doses of bacteria had a greater impact on Plasmodium growth.
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