{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,29]],"date-time":"2026-07-29T05:01:41Z","timestamp":1785301301892,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,6]],"date-time":"2026-07-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783296000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":5,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,1]],"date-time":"2026-07-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782864000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.1002\/tdm_license_1.1"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001665","name":"Agence Nationale de la Recherche","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["ANR\u201023\u2010CE02\u20100013"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ANR\u201023\u2010CE02\u20100013"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001665","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001665","name":"Agence Nationale de la Recherche","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["ANR\u201019\u2010CE15\u20100007"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ANR\u201019\u2010CE15\u20100007"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001665","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001665","name":"Agence Nationale de la Recherche","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["ANR\u201017\u2010CE35\u20100012"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ANR\u201017\u2010CE35\u20100012"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001665","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Molecular Ecology Resources"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,7]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    Avian malaria, caused by\n                    <jats:italic>Plasmodium<\/jats:italic>\n                    parasites, poses a significant threat to bird populations worldwide, particularly in vulnerable island ecosystems. Yet, progress in understanding avian malaria transmission dynamics has been hampered by the lack of molecular tools to quantify and sex the transmissible stages of the parasite: the male and female gametocytes. This challenge is compounded by the nucleated erythrocytes of avian hosts and the absence of an in\u00a0vitro culture system, which have historically hindered the advancement of molecular approaches. Here, we develop and validate the first molecular markers to discriminate between asexual, male and female gametocytes in the widespread avian malaria parasite\n                    <jats:italic>Plasmodium relictum<\/jats:italic>\n                    . Using single\u2010cell RNA sequencing and orthology\u2010guided stage mapping, we identified conserved, stage\u2010specific transcripts and leveraged this information to develop molecular markers capable of quantifying and distinguishing male and female gametocytes in two parasite cyt\u2010b lineages, pSGS1 and pDELURB4. These markers outperformed microscopy in sensitivity, detected gametocytes earlier and for longer and revealed consistently higher male\u2010to\u2010female gametocyte ratios than estimated by blood smears. The high degree of conservation of these markers across\n                    <jats:italic>Plasmodium<\/jats:italic>\n                    species suggests broad applicability of these markers to other avian lineages.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1111\/1755-0998.70157","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,6]],"date-time":"2026-07-06T22:31:51Z","timestamp":1783377111000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Single\u2010Cell Transcriptomics and Development of Gametocyte\u2010Specific Molecular Markers for Avian Malaria Parasites"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"26","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0931-667X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"A.","family":"Berthomieu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"MIVEGEC (University of Montpellier, CNRS, IRD)  Montpellier France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2750-9056","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"I.","family":"Rizos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"MIVEGEC (University of Montpellier, CNRS, IRD)  Montpellier France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"J. W.","family":"Bagnoli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"MIVEGEC (University of Montpellier, CNRS, IRD)  Montpellier France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2624-7856","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"S.","family":"Gandon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CEFE (University of Montpellier, CNRS, IRD)  Montpellier France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2584-3672","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"A. M.","family":"Talman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"MIVEGEC (University of Montpellier, CNRS, IRD)  Montpellier France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7056-5846","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"A.","family":"Rivero","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"MIVEGEC (University of Montpellier, CNRS, IRD)  Montpellier France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_9_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/nar\/gkab929"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/gcb.12535"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1088\/1748\u20106041\/3\/3\/034007"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pt.2008.08.001"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1755\u20100998.2009.02692.x"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1101\/gr.218123.116"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_8_1","volume-title":"Ecological Models and Data in R","author":"Bolker B. 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