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Student 10-Minute Presentation Competition

Physiology, Biochemistry, and Toxicology

Student Competition

Student

Grad 10-min Competition: PBT, Physiology

Manipulating vitamin B5 levels in the mosquito Anopheles stephensi to starve malaria parasites of this essential nutrient

Monday, November 10, 2025
11:42 AM - 11:54 AM Pacific
Location: Oregon Convention Center, F150, OCC
Oral Presentation Student Competition
Coenzyme A (CoA) is utilized in all living organisms, including mosquitoes and malaria parasites, for cell metabolism, post-translational modification of proteins, gene expression, and the synthesis of macromolecules. CoA is synthesized from pantothenate, also known as vitamin B5, via an enzymatic pathway regulated by the rate-limiting enzyme pantothenate kinase (PanK). While humans and Anopheles spp. obtain pantothenate from dietary sources, Plasmodium spp. must obtain pantothenate from the human or mosquito hosts. We previously demonstrated that manipulation of Pan levels in the mosquito Anopheles stephensi, through the use of small molecule PanK activators, can significantly reduce Plasmodium development. In this work, we genetically engineered Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes to have increased PanK expression in the midgut or fat body via the carboxypeptidase or vitellogenin promoters, respectively. We identified the genomic insertion sites and demonstrated that PanK protein expression in these lines was increased in a tissue and blood meal specific manner. We also demonstrated that overexpression of PanK impacts both pantothenate and CoA levels in the mosquito, which in turn has the potential to mitigate malaria parasite development. In sum, this work presents a novel strategy for controlling Plasmodium development within the mosquito host by disrupting the availability of a nutrient essential for parasite growth.