{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,13]],"date-time":"2026-10-13T13:47:40Z","timestamp":1791899260431,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,13]],"date-time":"2026-10-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1791849600000},"content-version":"am","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000002","name":"U.S. National Institute of Health","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["D43TW010075"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["D43TW010075"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000002","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000002","name":"U.S. National Institute of Health","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["U19AI089683"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["U19AI089683"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000002","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000002","name":"U.S. National Institute of Health","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["R21AI176774"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R21AI176774"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000002","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Gametocyte carriage varies across Plasmodium falciparum infections. The extent to which this variation reflects differences in the initiation of gametocytogenesis and\/or gametocyte maturation remains unclear. We investigated determinants of initiation of gametocytogenesis and gametocyte carriage in P. falciparum infections from Malawi.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A total of 1108 P. falciparum infections from a cohort study conducted in Malawi between 2019 and 2020 underwent ccp4 and pfmget qRT-PCR to measure gametocyte carriage, ap2-g and sbp1 RT-PCR to quantify gametocytogenesis initiation in ring-stage parasites, and pfs230 DNA amplicon sequencing to estimate infection complexity. Mixed-effects logistic regression was used to evaluate predictors of gametocytogenesis initiation and gametocyte carriage, and mixed-effects linear regression was used to evaluate predictors of ap2-g gene transcript abundance and gametocyte density.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Gametocyte marker transcripts were detected in 54% (594\/1108) of infections and ap2-g transcripts were detected in 41% (429\/1047) of infections with detectable ring-stage parasites. Parasite density was positively associated with ap2-g expression, and ap2-g expression was more likely in polyclonal compared to monoclonal infections. Children &amp;lt;6 years old had lower ap2-g transcript abundance than adults but were more likely to carry gametocytes and have higher gametocyte density. Asymptomatic infections showed higher ap2-g transcript abundance and greater gametocyte prevalence and density than symptomatic infections.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Our findings suggest that infection complexity and parasite density may play a role in the initiation of gametocytogenesis, whereas host immunity and duration of infection may play a larger role in gametocyte carriage in P. falciparum infections.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1093\/infdis\/jiag479","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,22]],"date-time":"2026-09-22T11:38:58Z","timestamp":1790077138000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Different Factors Drive Initiation of Gametocytogenesis Versus Gametocyte Carriage in\n                    <i>Plasmodium falciparum<\/i>\n                    Infections"],"prefix":"10.1093","author":[{"given":"Jimmy A","family":"Vareta","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine , Baltimore, Maryland ,","place":["USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7575-630X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lauren M","family":"Cohee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine , Baltimore, Maryland ,","place":["USA"]},{"name":"Department of Clinical Sciences, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine , Liverpool ,","place":["United Kingdom"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Natalie A","family":"Horstman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine , Baltimore, Maryland 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