Plasmodium oocysts exhibit reductions in numbers between day 2 (early oocyst development) and day 8 in An. gambiae mosquitoes and this has been partially attributed to functions mediated by STAT and Litaf-like 3 (LL3) transcription factors; although the exact mechanisms remain to be characterized, LL3 and STAT seem to independently control hemocyte differentiation in response to parasite infection (Gupta et al., 2009; Smith et al., 2015). Here, SOAT1 is linked to parasitic infectious disease.