Adaptive plasticity in the gametocyte conversion rate of malaria parasites

Abstract

Malaria parasites in the host replicate asexually and, during each replication cycle, some asexuals transform into sexual stages that enable between-host transmission. It is not understood why the rate of conversion to sexual stages varies during infections despite its importance for the severity and spread of the disease. We combined a mathematical model and experiments to show that parasites adjust conversion rates depending on changes in their in-host population size. When population sizes plummet, between-host transmission is prioritised. However, smaller losses in number elicit reproductive restraint, which facilitates in-host survival and future transmission. We show that increased and decreased conversion in response to a range of in-host environments are actually part of one continuum: a sophisticated reproductive strategy similar to that of multicellular organisms.