Comparative transcriptional and genomic analysis of Plasmodium falciparum field isolates.

ABSTRACT: Mechanisms for differential regulation of gene expression may underlie much of the phenotypic variation and adaptability of malaria parasites. Here we describe transcriptional variation among culture-adapted field isolates of Plasmodium falciparum, the species responsible for most malarial disease. It was found that genes coding for parasite protein export into the red cell cytosol and onto its surface, and genes coding for sexual stage proteins involved in parasite transmission are up-regulated in field isolates compared with long-term laboratory isolates. Much of this variability was associated with the loss of small or large chromosomal segments, or other forms of gene copy number variation that are prevalent in the P. falciparum genome (copy number variants, CNVs). Expression levels of

SUBMITTER: Mackinnon MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2764095 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature