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Item Plasmodium telomere maintenance: uncovering the Achilles’ heel for novel antimalarials(Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, 2025-09) Wakai, Theophilus N.; Anzaku, Dorathy O.; Afolabi, Israel S.This review examines the potential of disrupting telomere maintenance in Plasmodium as a novel antimalarial strategy. Telomeres are repetitive DNA– protein structures located at chromosome termini, where they preserve genome stability and protect against degradation. Telomere maintenance is crucial for rapid growth, genome integrity, and immune evasion in Plasmodium parasites. Unlike humans, Plasmodium maintains continuous telomerase activity and uses unique telomere-binding proteins across its lifecycle. These features drive parasite virulence and antigenic variation. Emerging evidence suggests that Plasmodium telomeres harbor G-quadruplex (G4) DNA structures, which help stabilize telomeres during replication and may be good targets for small molecules to disrupt their function. Additionally, the parasite depends heavily on its telomerase catalytic subunit, PfTERT, for survival. Inhibiting PfTERT has shown promising results in blocking telomere elongation and impairing replication. Targeting this parasite-specific telomere–telomerase axis may offer a strategic means to destabilize chromosomes, weaken immune evasion, and limit parasite survival, making it a promising antimalarial approach. However, researchers must consider the risks of off-target effects in future drug designs. Though current studies are limited and remain inconclusive, we suggest that future research should investigate combining telomere-directed therapies with existing antimalarials to help overcome resistance and improve treatment outcomes. Herein, we review advances in understanding Plasmodium telomere biology, highlighting its distinct structures, critical telomereassociated proteins, and roles in pathogenesis. We further explore how selective targeting could exploit an Achilles’ heel in parasite survival, offering fresh possibilities for next-generation, parasite-specific malaria therapies.Item DEVELOPMENT OF A MULTI-LABEL CLASSIFIER FOR PREDICTING GENETIC MARKERS ASSOCIATED WITH MULTI-DRUG RESISTANCE IN Plasmodium falciparum STRAINS(Covenant University Ota, 2025-08) OGUNDIMU, Temitayo Ayomikun; Covenant University DissertationMalaria is an infectious disease of global health importance caused by Plasmodium falciparum. It is highly complicated by parasite’s ability to gain resistance to multiple antimalarial drugs simultaneously, a phenomenon known as multidrug resistance (MDR). Single-label models only predict resistance to one drug at a time and as such would not capture these complex resistance patterns, limiting their utility for real-world surveillance. To bridge this gap, this study developed and evaluated four advanced multi-label classification models: Random Forest with Binary Relevance (RFDTBR), Ensemble of Classifier Chains (ECCJ48), Ensemble of Binary Relevance (EBRJ48), and a Backpropagation Neural Network (BPNN), using genomic and phenotypic data for five key antimalarials. Notably, RFDTBR and EBRJ48 outperformed others in predicting exact MDR profiles, while BPNN performed faster compared to the other models. Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine had the lowest performance across the models. Specific genomic features consistently emerged as key predictive factors across all models. These findings demonstrate the value of multi-label learning for comprehensive MDR prediction. Also, effective models and genomic regions were identified, warranting further investigation, thereby paving the way for improved resistance surveillance