Fig. 1. Association of laminin and developing Plasmodium berghei in the mosquito midgut. Mosquitoes were given a blood meal containing P. berghei parasites. At different time points, the midguts were dissected and immunostained using the antibodies described in detail in Materials and methods. (A,B) A parasite is seen reaching the basal lamina 20–24 h after blood feeding. Green, SOAP protein; red, laminin; insets in B show details of the parasite staining showing only the red or green colour channel. Scale bars: 2 mm in A, 1 mm in B. (C) A young oocyst localized close to the muscle layer surrounding the midgut 3 days after the blood meal; green, P28 protein; red, laminin. Insets in C: details of the parasite staining showing only the red or green colour channel. Scale bar: 10 mm. (D) 10 days after the blood meal laminin (green) is seen concentrated around the larger oocyst. Bar: 10 mm. (E) 15 days after blood feeding, a thin coat of laminin (green) is seen on a mature oocyst protruding through the muscle layer shortly before rupturing. Scale bar: 10 mm. (F) A midgut 15 days after the blood meal. Individual sporozoites can be seen (green: CSP) along the muscles (red: laminin) while an almost mature oocyst is seen on the right; blue T-PRO stained nuclei of immature oocysts or epithelial cells. Scale bar: 100 mm. (G) Higher magnification of the midgut shown in F. Individual sporozoites can be seen (green: CSP) along the muscles (red: laminin). Scale bar: 10 mm.