Plasmodium berghei

Plasmodium berghei is a species in the genus Plasmodium subgenus Vinckeia. It is a protozoan parasite that causes malaria in certain rodents. Originally, isolated from thicket rats in Central Africa, P. berghei is one of four Plasmodium species that have been described in African murine rodents, the others being Plasmodium chabaudi, Plasmodium vinckei, and Plasmodium yoelii. Due to its ability to infect rodents and relative ease of genetic engineering, P. berghei is a popular model organism for the study of human malaria. Like all malaria parasites of mammals, including the four human malaria parasites, P. berghei is transmitted by Anopheles mosquitoes and it infects the liver after being injected into the bloodstream by a bite of an infected female mosquito. After a short period (a few days) of development and multiplication, these parasites leave the liver and invade erythrocytes (red blood cells). The multiplication of the parasite in the blood causes the pathology such as anaemia and damage of essential organs of the host such as lungs, liver, spleen. P. berghei infections may also affect the brain and can be the cause of cerebral complications in laboratory mice. These symptoms are to a certain degree comparable to symptoms of cerebral malaria in patients infected with the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Plasmodium berghei is found in the forests of Central Africa, where its natural cyclic hosts are the thicket rat (Grammomys surdaster) and the mosquito (Anopheles dureni). Plasmodium berghei was first identified in the thicket rat (Grammomys surdaster). It has also been described in Leggada bella, Praomys jacksoni and Thamnomys surdaster. In research laboratories, various rodents can be infected, such as mice, rats and gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus). The natural insect host of P. berghei is likely Anopheles dureni, however in laboratory conditions it has also been shown to infect Anopheles stephensi. This species was first described by Vincke and Lips in 1948 in the Belgian Congo. Plasmodium berghei infection of laboratory mouse strains is frequently used in research as a model for human malaria. In the laboratory the natural hosts have been replaced by a number of commercially available laboratory mouse strains, and the mosquito Anopheles stephensi, which is comparatively easily reared and maintained under defined laboratory conditions.