Mapping the genetic locus implicated in cytoadherence of Plasmodium falciparum to melanoma cells

Abstract

Many lines of Plasmodium falciparum undergo a deletion of the right end of chromosome 9 during in vitro cultivation accompanied by loss of cytoadherence to melanoma cells. The deletion also results in loss of expression of PfEMP1, the putative cytoadherence ligand, suggesting that PfEMP1 or a regulatory gene controlling pfEMP1 expression is encoded in this region. Initially a library of short fragments highly enriched for the right arm of chromosome 9 was constructed in bacteriophage λ. Clones from this library were obtained randomly by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique, sequenced and used to screen a yeast artificial chromosome (YAC)-P. falciparum library by PCR so that the regi..