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Eukaryotic Cell, August 2006, p. 1206-1214, Vol. 5, No. 8
1535-9778/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/EC.00029-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Programmed Transcription of the var Gene Family, but Not of stevor, in Plasmodium falciparum Gametocytes

Sarah Sharp,1 Thomas Lavstsen,2 Quinton L. Fivelman,1 Maha Saeed,1 Louisa McRobert,1 Thomas J. Templeton,3 Anja T. R. Jensen,2 David A. Baker,1 Thor G. Theander,2 and Colin J. Sutherland1*

Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom,1 Institute for Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Centre for Medical Parasitology, University of Copenhagen, Panum Institute 24-2, Blegdamsvej 3, 2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark,2 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, New York3

Received 1 February 2006/ Accepted 13 May 2006

The var genes encode Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) proteins, a set of highly diverse surface-expressed proteins that mediate adhesion of erythrocytes infected with asexual blood-stage parasites to host endothelium. Switching among expressed PfEMP1 variants in the course of a blood-stage infection is a key component of antigenic variation, and thus immune evasion, by the parasite. The majority of var loci are found in the subtelomeric regions of P. falciparum chromosomes associated with members of other multigene families, including stevor. Both PfEMP1 and STEVOR are expressed in gametocytes, the transmissible parasite stage, but the role of these proteins in the biology of sexual-stage parasites remains unknown. PfEMP1 may continue to mediate antigenic variation in gametocytes, which need to persist in the host for many days before reaching maturity. Using quantitative reverse transcription-PCR and Northern hybridization, we demonstrate that transcription of a defined subset of type C var loci occurs during gametocyte development in vitro. This transcriptional program occurs in gametocytes regardless of the var expression phenotype of their asexual progenitors and therefore is subject to regulatory processes distinct from those that manage antigenic variation in the asexual parasite. In contrast, the same stevor variants are transcribed in both gametocytes and their asexual progenitors. We also provide evidence that for both asexual parasites and gametocytes, var and stevor transcription patterns are not linked to each other.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Immunology Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel St., London WC1E 7HT, United Kingdom. Phone: 44 20 7927 2338. Fax: 44 20 7636 8739. E-mail: colin.sutherland{at}lshtm.ac.uk.

Eukaryotic Cell, August 2006, p. 1206-1214, Vol. 5, No. 8
1535-9778/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/EC.00029-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Blythe, J. E., Yam, X. Y., Kuss, C., Bozdech, Z., Holder, A. A., Marsh, K., Langhorne, J., Preiser, P. R. (2008). Plasmodium falciparum STEVOR Proteins Are Highly Expressed in Patient Isolates and Located in the Surface Membranes of Infected Red Blood Cells and the Apical Tips of Merozoites. Infect. Immun. 76: 3329-3336 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Kyes, S. A., Kraemer, S. M., Smith, J. D. (2007). Antigenic Variation in Plasmodium falciparum: Gene Organization and Regulation of the var Multigene Family. Eukaryot Cell 6: 1511-1520 [Full Text]  
  • Joergensen, L., Turner, L., Magistrado, P., Dahlback, M. A., Vestergaard, L. S., Lusingu, J. P., Lemnge, M., Salanti, A., Theander, T. G., Jensen, A. T. R. (2006). Limited Cross-Reactivity among Domains of the Plasmodium falciparum Clone 3D7 Erythrocyte Membrane Protein 1 Family. Infect. Immun. 74: 6778-6784 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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