Development of a toolkit for piggyBac-mediated integrative transfection of the human filarial parasite Brugia malayi

摘要

Author summary The human filarial parasites are the causative agents of lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis) and onchocerciasis (river blindness) that are some of the most important causes of morbidity worldwide. Both of these diseases have been targeted for elimination by the international community. However, the elimination programs for both diseases rely on long-term community-wide distribution of a limited number of drugs, which is logistically difficult to achieve, and vulnerable to failure if resistance to the current drugs develops. Thus, additional research on the biology of these parasites is urgently needed. A large obstacle to research on these organisms has been the inability to employ reverse genetic methods and to develop integrated transgenic parasite lines. In this manuscript, we report the development of a novel co-culture method and constructs that overcome this hurdle. Together these can be used to efficiently produce integrated transgenic parasites.