Mechanisms of host exploitation by a microsporidian parasite

Parasites are masters at exploiting their hosts. In doing so, they often affect the development of co-infecting parasites. Such is the case of microsporidia and Plasmodium spp ., which have been shown to have their development within the mosquito repressed in the presence of the former. Therefore, microsporidia hold significant potential as biological control agents for malaria. However, the mechanisms behind this repression remain unclear. Here, we characterised the mechanisms underpinning the infection by using evolved lines of the microsporidian Vavraia culicis differing in their virulence upon infecting the mosquito Anopheles gambiae , the main malaria vector. Through the use of host metallomics and energy quantification throughout infection progression, we were able to identify important parasite mechanisms of host exploitation of general and virulence-specific interest, namely iron. Our findings advance the fundamental understanding of microsporidia infections and provide important insights into the design of effective malaria control strategies.