Billker:Rita Tewari

I am a Research Lecturer associated with the Billker Lab

Major research interest on "Functional analysis of malaria parasite-host cell interactions in vivo using gene targeting". Presentally working on a genome-wide systematic deletion analysis of Plasmodium berghei protein kinases to reveal molecular mechanisms of life cycle regulation.

my email: r.tewari[AT]imperial.ac.uk

Some Publications

1. Raine JD, Ecker A, Mendoza J, Tewari R, Stanway RR, and Sinden RE. Female inheritance of malarial lap genes is essential for mosquito transmission. PLoS Pathog. 2007 Mar;3(3):e30. DOI:10.1371/journal.ppat.0030030 |
2. Escaron CJ, Lees DM, Tewari R, Smith DF, and Caron E. A simple, robust and versatile method to characterise intracellular parasitism. Mol Biochem Parasitol. 2007 May;153(1):72-6. DOI:10.1016/j.molbiopara.2007.01.008 |
3. Tewari R, Dorin D, Moon R, Doerig C, and Billker O. An atypical mitogen-activated protein kinase controls cytokinesis and flagellar motility during male gamete formation in a malaria parasite. Mol Microbiol. 2005 Dec;58(5):1253-63. DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2958.2005.04793.x |
4. Reininger L, Billker O, Tewari R, Mukhopadhyay A, Fennell C, Dorin-Semblat D, Doerig C, Goldring D, Harmse L, Ranford-Cartwright L, Packer J, and Doerig C. A NIMA-related protein kinase is essential for completion of the sexual cycle of malaria parasites. J Biol Chem. 2005 Sep 9;280(36):31957-64. DOI:10.1074/jbc.M504523200 |
5. Tewari R, Rathore D, and Crisanti A. Motility and infectivity of Plasmodium berghei sporozoites expressing avian Plasmodium gallinaceum circumsporozoite protein. Cell Microbiol. 2005 May;7(5):699-707. DOI:10.1111/j.1462-5822.2005.00503.x |
6. Tewari R, Ogun SA, Gunaratne RS, Crisanti A, and Holder AA. Disruption of Plasmodium berghei merozoite surface protein 7 gene modulates parasite growth in vivo. Blood. 2005 Jan 1;105(1):394-6. DOI:10.1182/blood-2004-06-2106 |
7. Billker O, Dechamps S, Tewari R, Wenig G, Franke-Fayard B, and Brinkmann V. Calcium and a calcium-dependent protein kinase regulate gamete formation and mosquito transmission in a malaria parasite. Cell. 2004 May 14;117(4):503-14. DOI:10.1016/s0092-8674(04)00449-0 |
8. Edvardsen RB, Lerat E, Maeland AD, Flåt M, Tewari R, Jensen MF, Lehrach H, Reinhardt R, Seo HC, and Chourrout D. Hypervariable and highly divergent intron-exon organizations in the chordate Oikopleura dioica. J Mol Evol. 2004 Oct;59(4):448-57. DOI:10.1007/s00239-004-2636-5 |
9. Gillemans N, McMorrow T, Tewari R, Wai AW, Burgtorf C, Drabek D, Ventress N, Langeveld A, Higgs D, Tan-Un K, Grosveld F, and Philipsen S. Functional and comparative analysis of globin loci in pufferfish and humans. Blood. 2003 Apr 1;101(7):2842-9. DOI:10.1182/blood-2002-09-2850 |
10. Tewari R, Spaccapelo R, Bistoni F, Holder AA, and Crisanti A. Function of region I and II adhesive motifs of Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein in sporozoite motility and infectivity. J Biol Chem. 2002 Dec 6;277(49):47613-8. DOI:10.1074/jbc.M208453200 |
11. Kropf P, Herath S, Tewari R, Syed N, Klemenz R, and Müller I. Identification of two distinct subpopulations of Leishmania major-specific T helper 2 cells. Infect Immun. 2002 Oct;70(10):5512-20. DOI:10.1128/IAI.70.10.5512-5520.2002 |
12. Gillemans N, Tewari R, Lindeboom F, Rottier R, de Wit T, Wijgerde M, Grosveld F, and Philipsen S. Altered DNA-binding specificity mutants of EKLF and Sp1 show that EKLF is an activator of the beta-globin locus control region in vivo. Genes Dev. 1998 Sep 15;12(18):2863-73. DOI:10.1101/gad.12.18.2863 |
13. Tewari R, Gillemans N, Wijgerde M, Nuez B, von Lindern M, Grosveld F, and Philipsen S. Erythroid Krüppel-like factor (EKLF) is active in primitive and definitive erythroid cells and is required for the function of 5'HS3 of the beta-globin locus control region. EMBO J. 1998 Apr 15;17(8):2334-41. DOI:10.1093/emboj/17.8.2334 |
14. Tewari R, Gillemans N, Harper A, Wijgerde M, Zafarana G, Drabek D, Grosveld F, and Philipsen S. The human beta-globin locus control region confers an early embryonic erythroid-specific expression pattern to a basic promoter driving the bacterial lacZ gene. Development. 1996 Dec;122(12):3991-9. DOI:10.1242/dev.122.12.3991 |

15. Ellis J, Philipsen S, Strouboulis J, Pruzina S, Tewari R, Gillemans N, Drabek, D, Harper A, Grosveld F and Fraser P (1995). The regulation of human  globin gene expression; the roles of 5’HS1-4. Proceedings of the Ninth Conference on Hemoglobin Switching held at Orcas Island, 10-14 June 1994, editor Dr. G. Stamatoyannopoulos, pg. 29-38

16. Nakayama I, Foresti F, Tewari R, Schartl M, and Chourrout D. Sex chromosome polymorphism and heterogametic males revealed by two cloned DNA probes in the ZW/ZZ fish Leporinus elongatus. Chromosoma. 1994 Mar;103(1):31-9. DOI:10.1007/BF00364723 |

17. Tewari R , Michard-Vanhee C, Perrot E and Chourrout D (1992) Mendelian transmission, structure and expression of transgenes following their injection into the cytoplasm of trout eggs. Transgenic Research 1, 250-260.

18. Tewari R and Rao SR. Replication status of the fragile X chromosome and its implications for reproductive performance in the Indian mole rat (Nesokia indica). J Reprod Fertil. 1991 Jan;91(1):203-6. DOI:10.1530/jrf.0.0910203 |
19. Thelma BK, Tewari R, Juyal RC, and Rao SR. Random/nonrandom X-chromosome inactivation in Nesokia indica: possible influence of heterochromatin. Cytogenet Cell Genet. 1991;56(2):87-90. DOI:10.1159/000133056 |

20. Tewari R, Juyal RC, Rao SRV and Thelma BK (1989). Significance of fragile sites on the sex chromosome of Nesokia indica. Nucleus 32, 93-102.

21. Thelma BK, Juyal RC, Tewari R, and Rao SR. Does heterochromatin variation potentiate speciation? A study in Nesokia. Cytogenet Cell Genet. 1988;47(4):204-8. DOI:10.1159/000132550 |
22. Tewari R, Juyal RC, Thelma BK, Das BC, and Rao SR. Folate-sensitive fragile sites on the X-chromosome heterochromatin of the Indian mole rat, Nesokia indica. Cytogenet Cell Genet. 1987;44(1):11-7. DOI:10.1159/000132334 |
23. Simon MM, Ali S, Tewari R, Simon HG, Müller-Hermelink HK, and Epplen JT. Leukemic cells arise from cloned cytotoxic lymphocytes during cell culture. Eur J Immunol. 1986 Oct;16(10):1269-76. DOI:10.1002/eji.1830161014 |