Background: Malaria is one of the most important infectious diseases worldwide due to its high morbidity and mortality rates every year in tropical countries.Despite efforts in malaria research, several mechanisms underlying hostparasite interactions remain unclear, which is a big obstacle for the management and control of malaria.Recently, numerous studies have attempted to provide a better understanding of the physiopathological mechanisms to assist in the design of new drugs, vaccines and transmission blocking agents.These research topics have indicated that glycans are key molecules in the life cycle of the malarial parasites.The aim of this review is to highlight the relevance of glycans for the development and transmission of Plasmodium and to use that information as a valuable research tool to fight malaria.Because glycans play roles in parasite invasion and interactions with the mosquito host, both of which are part of "parasite development", this review seeks to specify the role of glycans in parasite development.Methods: This review was mainly based on research articles published between 1985 and 2015 that were obtained from the PubMed and Embase databases.The keywords used in this search were sulfated glycans, malaria, Anopheles and Plasmodium.Conclusions: Sulfated glycoconjugates are intimately linked to the development, transmission and survival of Plasmodium in the intermediate and definitive hosts.A better understanding of the role of sulfated glycoconjugates in malaria infection would permit the development of new therapeutic strategies and the design of strategies to inhibit parasite transmission.