Minisatellite-like repeat sequences in the genome of rodent malaria parasites
van Belkum, A.; Trommelen, G.; Uitterlinden, A.
Acta Leidensia 60(1): 83-91
1991
ISSN/ISBN: 0065-1362 PMID: 1820717 Document Number: 379957
Using minisatellite DNA probes and various Southern blots remaining DNA samples from rodent malaria parasites (P. berghei, P. chabaudi, P. adami, P. vinckei, P. yoelii), it was shown that minisatellite-like sequences occur in the genome of Plasmodium species. The use of fingerprinting techniques on DNA from these parasites reveals that minisatellite sequences are only present at a small number of loci. When parasite lines which differ in biological parameters are compared, no frequent restriction fragment length polymorphism is observed. Screening data banks revealed the presence of repeated copies of one of the probes, which has the monomer sequence CAGGTGG, in the DNA encoding the immunodominant peptide region of the circumsporozoite (CS) protein from a Plasmodium cynomolgi strain. Comparing the sequences for the CS protein from a number of strains of P. cynomolgi revealed that the core region of the repeats, although subject to limited variation, shares homology to the bacterial recombination signal sequence Chi (GCTGGTGG). The implications of these findings for genetic variation in malaria parasites is discussed.