Functional analysis of the Plasmodium falciparum genome using transfection

Abstract

Publisher This chapter discusses various strategies and methods to transfect P. falciparum in order to generate specific loss-of-function and gain-of-function mutants. This has broad applications to the analyses of many different aspects of the parasites biology, such as drug resistance, invasion of erythrocytes by the merozoite form, protein trafficking, cyto-adherence of parasite infected erythrocytes, and sexual stage reproduction. Plasmodium falciparum is an important pathogen of humans causing the most lethal form of malaria. This protozoan parasite causes over 300 million infections per year in humans and has been estimated that over two million of these individuals die because of this..