Frequent ectopic recombination of virulence factor genes in telomeric chromosome clusters of P. falciparum
Top Cited Papers
- 26 October 2000
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Nature
- Vol. 407 (6807), 1018-1022
- https://doi.org/10.1038/35039531
Abstract
Persistent and recurrent infections by Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasites result from the ability of the parasite to undergo antigenic variation and evade host immune attack1,2. P. falciparum parasites generate high levels of variability in gene families that comprise virulence determinants of cytoadherence and antigenic variation3,4,5,6,7, such as the var genes. These genes encode the major variable parasite protein (PfEMP-1), and are expressed in a mutually exclusive manner at the surface of the erythrocyte infected by P. falciparum8,9,10,11,12. Here we identify a mechanism by which var gene sequences undergo recombination at frequencies much higher than those expected from homologous crossover events alone13. These recombination events occur between subtelomeric regions of heterologous chromosomes, which associate in clusters near the nuclear periphery in asexual blood-stage parasites or in bouquet-like configurations near one pole of the elongated nuclei in sexual parasite forms. We propose that the alignment of var genes in heterologous chromosomes...Keywords
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