During development in the mosquito midgut, malarial parasites must traverse a
chitin-containing peritrophic matrix (PM) that forms around the food bolus. Previously Huber et al. [Huber, M., Cabib, E. & Miller, L. H. (1991) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88, 2807-2810] reported that the parasite secretes a
protein with
chitinase activity, and they suggested that parasite
chitinase (EC 3.2.1.14) plays an important role in the parasite's egress from the blood meal. We found that
allosamidin, a specific inhibitor of
chitinase, completely blocked oocyst development in vivo and thus blocked
malaria parasite transmission. Addition of exogenous
chitinase to the blood meal prevented the PM from forming and reversed the transmission-blocking activity of
allosamidin. Using exogenous
chitinase, we also found that the PM does not limit the number of parasites that develop into oocysts, suggesting that the parasite produces sufficient quantities of
chitinase to penetrate this potential barrier. In addition, we found that treatment of parasite
chitinase with a diisopropyl
fluorophosphate-sensitive trypsinlike
protease from the mosquito midgut or
endoproteinase Lys-C increased its enzymatic activity. These results suggest that
malaria parasite has evolved an intricate mechanism to adapt to the PM and the
protease-rich environment of the mosquito midgut.