Jan Stephan Wichers

1. Introduction Pesticides are used in agriculture for pest control. These pesticides can be divided into several subclasses, such as insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides. Their usage in agriculture and their accumulation in the environment have always been controversial and their environmental impacts have been extensively assessed [1]. The effect of pesticide-free urban green spaces on the other hand has also been critically studied [2].

Highlights Plasmodium parasites secrete proteins from their rhoptries during host cell invasion. Rhoptries undergo significant physiological changes during invasion, and these differ significantly between the rhoptries of merozoites and sporozoites. Rhoptry secretion requires fusion between rhoptry pairs and between the rhoptries and parasite plasma membrane.

Abstract Sequestration of Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes to host endothelium through the parasite-derived PfEMP1 adhesion proteins is central to the development of malaria pathogenesis. PfEMP1 proteins have diversified and expanded to encompass many sequence variants conferring each parasite a similar array of human endothelial receptor binding phenotypes. Here, we analyzed RNA-seq profiles of parasites isolated from 32 P. falciparum infected adult travelers returning to Germany.