<p class="first" id="P2">Severe malaria is caused by the apicomplexan parasite
<i>Plasmodium
falciparum.
</i> Despite decades of research the unique biology of these
parasites has made it challenging to establish high throughput genetic
approaches for identification of therapeutic targets. Using transposon
mutagenesis of
<i>P. falciparum</i> in an approach that exploited its
AT-rich genome we generated >38,000 mutants, saturating the genome and
defining fitness costs for 95% of genes. Of 5,399 genes we found ~3,000
genes are essential for optimal growth of asexual blood-stages
<i>in
vitro
</i>. Our study defines ∼1000 essential genes, including
genes associated with drug resistance, vaccine candidates, and conserved
proteins of unknown function. We validated this approach by testing proteasome
pathways for individual mutants associated with artemisinin sensitivity.
</p><p id="P3">Transposon mutagenesis of
<i>Plasmodium falciparum</i> was used
to generate >38,000 mutants, saturating the genome and defining fitness
costs for 95% of genes. We functionally define the relative fitness cost of
disruption for 5,399 genes, and find that ~3,000 genes, ~62% of
the genome, are essential for optimal asexual blood-stage
<i>in
vitro
</i> growth. Our study defines ∼1000 essential genes,
including genes associated with drug resistance, leading vaccine candidates, and
hundreds of
<i>Plasmodium-</i>conserved proteins of unknown function
that are now potential therapeutic intervention targets. We experimentally
validated the essentiality of proteasome pathways with drug studies of
individual mutants associated with artemisinin sensitivity. This study defines
high-priority targets and pathways and points the way for the future of
<i>P. falciparum</i> high throughput genetics.
</p><p id="P4">Saturation-scale mutagenesis of
<i>Plasmodium falciparum</i>
reveals a core set of genes essential for asexual blood-stage growth
<i>in
vitro
</i>.
</p><p id="P5">
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<h5 class="section-title" id="d3165984e297">INTRODUCTION:</h5>
<p id="P6">Malaria remains a devastating global parasitic disease, with the
majority of malaria deaths caused by the highly virulent
<i>Plasmodium
falciparum
</i>. The extreme AT-bias of the
<i>P.
falciparum
</i> genome has hampered genetic studies through targeted
approaches such as homologous recombination or CRISPR-Cas9, and only a few
hundred
<i>P. falciparum</i> mutants have been experimentally
generated in the past decades. In this study, we have used high throughput
<i>piggyBac</i> transposon insertional mutagenesis and
Quantitative Insertion Site Sequencing (QIseq) to reach saturation-level
mutagenesis of this parasite.
</p>
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<h5 class="section-title" id="d3165984e314">RATIONALE:</h5>
<p id="P7">Our study exploits the AT-richness of
<i>P. falciparum</i>
genome, which provides numerous
<i>piggyBac</i> transposon
insertion targets within both gene coding and non-coding flanking sequences,
to generate over 38,000
<i>P. falciparum</i> mutants. At this
level of mutagenesis, we could distinguish essential genes as non-mutable
and dispensable genes as mutable. Subsequently, we identified 3,357 genes
essential for
<i>in vitro</i> asexual blood-stage growth.
</p>
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<h5 class="section-title" id="d3165984e331">RESULTS:</h5>
<p id="P8">We calculated Mutagenesis Index Scores (MIS) and Mutagenesis Fitness
Scores (MFS) to functionally define the relative fitness cost of disruption
for 5,399 genes. A competitive growth phenotype screen confirmed that MIS
and MFS were predictive of the fitness cost for
<i>in vitro</i>
asexual growth. Genes predicted to be essential included genes implicated in
drug resistance, such as the “
<i>K13</i>” Kelch
propeller,
<i>mdr</i> and
<i>dhfr-ts</i>, as well as
targets considered to be high-value for drugs development such as
<i>pkg</i>, and
<i>cdpk5</i>. The screen revealed
essential genes that are specific to human
<i>Plasmodium</i>
parasites but absent from rodent-infective species, such as lipid metabolic
genes that may be crucial to transmission commitment in human infections.
MIS and MFS profiling provides a clear ranking of the relative essentiality
of gene ontology (GO) functions in
<i>P. falciparum</i>. GO
pathways associated with translation, RNA metabolism, and cell cycle control
are more essential, whereas genes associated with protein phosphorylation,
virulence factors, and transcription are more likely to be dispensable.
Finally, we confirm that the proteasome-degradation pathway is a high-value
druggable target based on its high ratio of essential:dispensable genes, and
by functionally confirming its link to the mode of action of artemisinin,
the current front-line antimalarial.
</p>
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<h5 class="section-title" id="d3165984e361">CONCLUSION:</h5>
<p id="P9">Saturation-scale mutagenesis allows prioritization of intervention
targets in the genome of the most important cause of malaria. The
identification of the essential genome, consisting of over 3000 genes, will
be valuable for antimalarial therapeutic research.
</p>
</div>