Changes in var gene mRNA levels during erythrocytic development in two phenotypically distinct Plasmodium falciparum parasites

Abstract

The var multigene family encodes PfEMP1, which are expressed on the surface of infected erythrocytes and bind to various host endothelial receptors. Antigenic variation of PfEMP1 plays a key role in malaria pathogenesis, a process partially controlled at the level of var gene transcription. Transcriptional levels, throughout the intra-erythrocytic cycle, of 59 var genes of the NF54 clone were measured simultaneously by quantitative real-time PCR. The timing of var transcript abundance, the number of genes transcribed and whether transcripts were correctly spliced for protein expression were determined. Two parasite populations were studied; an unselected population of NF54 and a selected population, NF54VAR2CSA, to compare both the transcription of var2csa and the expression pattern of the corresponding protein