Fig. 1.

Quantification cycle (Cq) values from P. falciparum 18S RT-qPCR of 4 different sample preparation methods: a P. falciparum blood preserved in RNAlater extracted manually; b in RNA later extracted automatically; c in RNA/DNA Shield extracted manually and d in RNA/DNA Shield extracted automatically. Manual or automated nucleic acids isolation and RNA preservation solution have no effect on the mean Cq values obtained from RT-qPCR targeting 18S rRNA and DNA of Plasmodium (three-way ANOVA, p = 0.119, p = 0.686, respectively)