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SUMMARY:The sex lives of malaria parasites - Dr Arthur Talman\, MIVEGEC\, 
 Université de Montpellier
DTSTART:20251126T160000Z
DTEND:20251126T170000Z
UID:TALK241207@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Scott Chisholm
DESCRIPTION:Sexual reproduction and meiotic sex are deeply rooted in the e
 ukaryotic tree of life\, but the mechanisms determining sex or mating type
 s are extremely varied and only well characterised in a few model organism
 s. Sexual differentiation in malaria parasites is initiated when a subset 
 of intraerythrocytic parasites becomes committed to a sexual fate. Sexuall
 y committed parasites then undergo a secondary differentiation to become e
 ither male or female gametocytes. Sex determination is epigenetic\, with e
 ach haploid parasite capable of producing either a male or a female gameto
 cyte in the human host. The timing of the sex determination cell fate deci
 sion is not fully elucidated. Using a combination of cell fate mapping and
  single-cell approaches\, we describe the timing of the sex-determining de
 cision in malaria parasites. We further identify a gene that is both essen
 tial and sufficient for sex determination and begin to unravel the mechani
 sm underlying sex determination in _Plasmodium falciparum_. Finally\, we i
 dentify a transcriptional switch that controls mutually exclusive states a
 t this locus\, which govern the sex-determining cell fate decision. We sho
 w that sex determination in genetically identical cells requires a robust 
 regulatory architecture acting on high-level regulators of a cell’s sexu
 al fate. We place our results within the broader context of sex determinat
 ion in alveolates. 
LOCATION:Marjory Stephenson Seminar Room\, Hopkins Building\, Dept of Bioc
 hemistry.
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