Plasmodium falciparum expresses fewer var genes at lower levels during asymptomatic dry season infections than clinical malaria cases.

ABSTRACT: In seasonal transmission areas, clinical malaria occurs during the wet season when mosquitoes are present, while in the dry season, malaria transmission is interrupted and clinical cases are rare. In Mali, Plasmodium falciparum can persist in low parasitaemic asymptomatic individuals through the six-month dry season and shows circulation of more developed parasite stages compared to clinical malaria cases, indicative of reduced cytoadhesion of infected erythrocytes. How prolonged circulation of infected erythrocytes is achieved remains unknown. Here, we explored var gene expression in subclinical infections and clinical malaria cases of Malian children, collected during the dry and wet seasons. We sequenced expressed var DBLα-tags, used bioinformatic tools to predict their domain compositi

SUBMITTER: Ceesay S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12151486 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature