Serial passage of the malaria parasite through rodents, primates or human hosts increases parasite virulence, suggesting that vector transmission regulates virulence, although direct evidence for this has been lacking; mosquito transmission is shown here to intrinsically modify asexual blood-stage Plasmodium chabaudi chabaudi, which elicits altered host immune responses that, in turn, modify disease severity.
- Philip J. Spence
- William Jarra
- Jean Langhorne
