{"title":"Post-transcriptional RNA-mediated regulation in infection: mechanisms, functions, and analytical approaches.","authors":"Mame Massar Dieng, Jean-Claude Twizere, Youssef Idaghdour","doi":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.05.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.05.001","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Infectious pathogens extensively rewire host RNA processing, yet most studies examine individual processing mechanisms in isolation. In this review, we synthesize evidence that alternative splicing, N6-methyladenosine (m<sup>6</sup>A) methylation, and adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) RNA editing collectively shape infection outcomes across viral, bacterial, and parasitic pathogens by modulating host defense and pathogen replication. We highlight how pathogens hijack or are constrained by these mechanisms, with particular emphasis on underexplored bacterial and parasitic systems. We then propose a metatranscriptomics framework that integrates long-read and direct RNA sequencing with specialized computational tools to jointly profile splicing, m<sup>6</sup>A, and A-to-I editing in host and pathogen. Such integrative analyses will reveal convergent regulatory nodes and guide the development of host-directed therapies.</p>","PeriodicalId":23327,"journal":{"name":"Trends in parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"634-646"},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2026-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148017574","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"From biosynthesis to scavenging: evolutionary rewiring of PUFA and oxylipin biosynthesis in parasitic nematodes.","authors":"Dongjuan Yuan, Hongyi Li, Muchun Wan, Lihua Xiao, Yaoyu Feng","doi":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.04.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.04.007","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and their oxygenated metabolites (oxylipins) are mediators in regulating membrane function, larval development, and host immune response. In this review, we present that free-living nematodes maintain a relatively complete repertoire of enzymes for PUFA and oxylipin biosynthesis, while parasitic lineages exhibit extensive gene loss and plant-parasitic nematodes show expansion in some enzymes. Meanwhile, parasitic nematodes compensate by scavenging lipids from hosts through the recruitment of various lipid transport proteins. Thus, parasites have lost some enzymes in this metabolic pathway, correlating with host dependence for portions of lipid acquisition, suggesting the plasticity of lipid biosynthesis and acquisition for nematode adaptation to diverse ecological niches.</p>","PeriodicalId":23327,"journal":{"name":"Trends in parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"603-616"},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2026-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147960273","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Trends in parasitologyPub Date : 2026-07-01Epub Date: 2026-06-04DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2026.05.011
Pratap Vydyam, Divya Beri, Cheryl A Lobo
{"title":"Babesia microti: Breaking the culture barrier.","authors":"Pratap Vydyam, Divya Beri, Cheryl A Lobo","doi":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.05.011","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.05.011","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Babesia microti poses a significant threat to human health, underscoring the need for an improved in vitro culture system to reduce reliance on animal models and support drug and vaccine screening. Key challenges include the tropism of preferential host red blood cells (RBCs), parasite metabolic needs, culture medium formulation, and optimization of the microaerophilic environment (oxygenation).</p>","PeriodicalId":23327,"journal":{"name":"Trends in parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"568-572"},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2026-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13267015/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148158232","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Molecular foundations and tissue-specific dynamics of the mosquito circadian clock.","authors":"Julien Devilliers, Joshua B Benoit, Zhijian J Tu, Chloé Lahondère, Clément Vinauger","doi":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.04.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.04.003","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Circadian clocks coordinate daily rhythms, shaping mating, host-seeking, and pathogen transmission in mosquitoes. In this review article, we discuss the current understanding of the molecular clockwork in key mosquito species, including Aedes aegypti and Anopheles gambiae, highlighting clade-specific features and diversified transcription-translation feedback loops relative to Drosophila's canonical clock model. We synthesize evidence and propose mechanistic hypotheses about the integration of environmental cues by central and peripheral clocks in an organ- and sex-specific manner, including a reanalysis of rhythmic RNA-sequencing data. Finally, we discuss how temporal synchrony among vector, host, and parasite determines transmission efficiency and how emerging single-cell and circuit-level tools will refine models of mosquito circadian organization. Overall, this review provides a framework for understanding mosquito daily and circadian rhythms.</p>","PeriodicalId":23327,"journal":{"name":"Trends in parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"511-523"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147821206","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Trends in parasitologyPub Date : 2026-06-01Epub Date: 2026-04-20DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2026.03.017
Carola Städele
{"title":"Sensing in motion: the active tick.","authors":"Carola Städele","doi":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.03.017","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.03.017","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The sensory biology of ticks has received comparatively little attention, despite their major importance as disease vectors. Recent findings challenge the view of ticks as passive followers of host cues and instead reveal that they actively shape how sensory information is acquired. By adjusting posture, foreleg position, and questing height, ticks regulate stimulus exposure and generate feedback that modulates ongoing behavior. This perspective highlights host-seeking as a dynamic process shaped by environmental context and internal state rather than by cue presence alone. Here, we synthesize emerging evidence from behavior, physiology, and sensory energetics to introduce an active-sensing perspective on tick biology and outline how feedback-driven sensory control influences host encounters, habitat use, and vector competence.</p>","PeriodicalId":23327,"journal":{"name":"Trends in parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"524-537"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147730022","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Trends in parasitologyPub Date : 2026-06-01Epub Date: 2026-05-20DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2026.05.005
Markus Engstler
{"title":"RNA decay sharpens antigenic variation in trypanosomes.","authors":"Markus Engstler","doi":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.05.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.05.005","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A new study by Lansink et al. identifies an expression-site-body-associated RNA nuclease that selectively attenuates expression-site-associated gene transcripts, showing that antigenic variation in Trypanosoma brucei is refined not only by monoallelic transcription but also by spatially organized nuclear RNA decay.</p>","PeriodicalId":23327,"journal":{"name":"Trends in parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"436-438"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147975848","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Trends in parasitologyPub Date : 2026-06-01Epub Date: 2026-05-01DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2026.04.002
Martin J Donnelly, Alice Kamau, Daniel McDermott, Sanjay C Nagi, Shannan Summers
{"title":"Polygenic scores for genomic surveillance of insecticide resistance in malaria control.","authors":"Martin J Donnelly, Alice Kamau, Daniel McDermott, Sanjay C Nagi, Shannan Summers","doi":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.04.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.04.002","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Recent increases in the global malaria disease burden are thought to be due, in part, to an increase in insecticide resistance, which reduces the efficacy of primary control methods, such as long-lasting insecticide nets and indoor residual spraying. However, quantifying the impact of insecticide resistance on vector control tools before intervention failure is hampered by the insensitivity of phenotyping approaches. In this opinion article, we discuss how genomic approaches can be used to accurately characterise patterns of insecticide resistance and may be used to provide an estimate of the impacts of resistance, which is a prerequisite for evidence-based vector control.</p>","PeriodicalId":23327,"journal":{"name":"Trends in parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"454-462"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147821212","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Trends in parasitologyPub Date : 2026-06-01Epub Date: 2026-04-02DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2026.02.012
Leah F Moriarty, Maria M Betoulle, Peter Troell, Irene Cavros, Kevin Griffith, Mateusz M Plucinski
{"title":"Antimalarial efficacy monitoring after nearly 20 years of artemisinin-based combination therapy in Africa: recalibrating guidance.","authors":"Leah F Moriarty, Maria M Betoulle, Peter Troell, Irene Cavros, Kevin Griffith, Mateusz M Plucinski","doi":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.02.012","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.02.012","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Timely identification of resistance to antimalarials is necessary to ensure effective malaria case management. The backbone of antimalarial resistance surveillance strategies is the therapeutic efficacy study (TES). Originally designed to be easily deployable, in recent years, TES have become increasingly complex and slow to yield results. Concurrently, advances in molecular surveillance techniques, the emergence and spread of artemisinin partial resistance in Africa, and advances in antimalarial drug stewardship through multiple first-line therapies have changed the context in which TES are implemented. In this opinion article, we outline considerations for recalibrating TES methodology. More efficient TES, coupled with molecular surveillance, could provide timely and actionable data for malaria-endemic countries as they manage treatment policies in the context of drug resistance in Africa.</p>","PeriodicalId":23327,"journal":{"name":"Trends in parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"445-453"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147616903","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Trends in parasitologyPub Date : 2026-06-01Epub Date: 2026-05-21DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2026.05.006
Tamar E Carter, Isuru Gunarathna
{"title":"Reassessing malaria-transmitting mosquito evolution with a neotropical lens.","authors":"Tamar E Carter, Isuru Gunarathna","doi":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.05.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.05.006","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Tennessen et al.'s study addresses longstanding knowledge gaps regarding the evolutionary drivers of a major Neotropical malaria vector, Anopheles darlingi. Through extensive whole-genome analysis, they revealed geographically structured An. darlingi populations with no evidence of sympatric species and strong signals of widespread insecticide resistance through convergent evolution.</p>","PeriodicalId":23327,"journal":{"name":"Trends in parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"434-435"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147983508","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}