Abstract

Plasmodium falciparum is a unicellular eukaryotic pathogen that is responsible for half a million death yearly. The incredible capacity of the parasites to adapt to vastly different environments in the human host and mosquito vector as well as to survive changes in the environment provides a foundation for the parasite’s evolutionary success. We and others have shown that this adaptive capacity to a large extent is enabled by epigenetic regulatory mechanisms and in particular H3K9me and heterochromatin protein 1 mediated gene silencing. In this lecture, I will provide an overview of our current understanding of how plasticity of the parasite’s epigenome contributes to parasite development and pathogenicity. I will then focus on a peculiar group of epigenetically-regulated RNA -binding proteins that signifies liver stage dormancy of malaria parasites.

We encourage in person attendance but the talk will also be streamed via zoom

Or, go to https://zoom.us/join and enter meeting ID: 937 7734 9694 and password: 6QuJjAx1jM