Microsporidia are spore-forming eukaryotic obligate intracellular parasites that infect hosts ranging from protists to humans, including economically important honeybees, silkworms, fish, and livestock. Given their widespread prevalence and acute zoonotic potential coupled with their threat to public health and global food chains, the US NIH has classified microsporidia as emerging pathogens of high priority. These parasites pose a particular risk to the elderly, children, and patients of organ transplants, HIV, and diabetes. However, no specific drugs or vaccines have been designed against microsporidia. This problem stems from the lack of mechanistic knowledge about the mechanisms by which these parasites infect their host cells and their methods of undermining host cell defensive strategies. Towards this, this project aimed to understand the unique host cell invasion organelle of microsporidia parasites and identify genes contributing to establishing infection. Collectively, insights from this project will help identify molecular mechanisms that drive infection and identification of drug targets.