ISSN:
1550-7408
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Biology
Notes:
While the Plasmodium falciparum fully annotated genome has now been released, functional analysis of its expected about 5300 genes remains to be carried out to understand their roles during the parasite development, in particular for about 60% of genes devoid of significant similarities in other species. Here, a suppression subtractive hybridisation (SSH) screen was used to identify genes coding for proteins expressed during merozoite morphogenesis. The resulting library yielded clones with cDNA inserts ranging from a few hundreds to about a thousand base pairs. We report here the analysis of 50 independent cDNA clones and of the corresponding 40 P. falciparum genes. While 27.5% of them turned out to be previously described genes, all known to code for proteins expressed in schizont/merozoite stages (EBA-175, MSP-1, MSP-3, MSP-6, ABRA/MSP-9, coronin, myosin A and the CLAG/RhopH1 protein), the remaining 72.5% were “putative” and “hypothetical” genes, coding for a variety of proteins among which we found several protease orthologs and orthologs of cytoskeleton-associated and/or actin-interacting proteins such as dynamin and formin-2 as well as other rhoptry proteins. In addition to providing experimental evidence for their expression in schizont/merozoite stages, we discuss how these genes represent original candidates to investigate the molecular events required to elaborate infective merozoites.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1550-7408.2005.05202003_3_7.x
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