Skip to main content
PMC home page
Infection and Immunity logoLink to Infection and Immunity
. 1991 Nov;59(11):3975–3981. doi: 10.1128/iai.59.11.3975-3981.1991

Antibodies and DNA probes used to analyze variant populations of the Indochina-1 strain of Plasmodium falciparum.

M Hommel 1, M Hughes 1, P Bond 1, J M Crampton 1
PMCID: PMC258985  PMID: 1937756

Abstract

Ten variant populations derived from the Indochina-1 strain of Plasmodium falciparum were analyzed by using (i) hyperimmune serum raised against some of these populations in squirrel monkeys and (ii) an oligonucleotide probe based on the rep-20 sequence, which had previously been shown to be a useful marker of diversity. Although all 10 subpopulations had an identical fingerprint pattern on Southern blots probed with the oligonucleotide, thus demonstrating a homogeneous genetic makeup, they all had a different phenotype for erythrocyte-associated antigens, thus confirming serological variant-specific differences. Antibodies to erythrocyte-associated antigens were measured with a new technique including immunogold and silver enhancement. The results of this study indicate that antigenic variation can occur without major genomic reorganization.

Full text

PDF
3975

Images in this article

3978Image
on p.3978
3979Image
on p.3979

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Barnwell J. W., Howard R. J., Coon H. G., Miller L. H. Splenic requirement for antigenic variation and expression of the variant antigen on the erythrocyte membrane in cloned Plasmodium knowlesi malaria. Infect Immun. 1983 Jun;40(3):985–994. doi: 10.1128/iai.40.3.985-994.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bhasin V. K., Clayton C., Trager W., Cross G. A. Variations in the organization of repetitive DNA sequences in the genomes of Plasmodium falciparum clones. Mol Biochem Parasitol. 1985 May;15(2):149–158. doi: 10.1016/0166-6851(85)90116-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Brown K. N., Brown I. N. Immunity to malaria: antigenic variation in chronic infections of Plasmodium knowlesi. Nature. 1965 Dec 25;208(5017):1286–1288. doi: 10.1038/2081286a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Chadwick C. J., Semoff S., Hommel M. Localisation of Plasmodium chabaudi antigens by cryomicrotomy using monoclonal antibodies and the immunogold-silver staining method for light microscopy. Parasitol Res. 1989;75(3):247–249. doi: 10.1007/BF00931284. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Corcoran L. M., Thompson J. K., Walliker D., Kemp D. J. Homologous recombination within subtelomeric repeat sequences generates chromosome size polymorphisms in P. falciparum. Cell. 1988 Jun 3;53(5):807–813. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90097-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Diggs C., Joseph K., Flemmings B., Snodgrass R., Hines F. Protein synthesis in vitro by cryopreserved Plasmodium falciparum. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1975 Sep;24(5):760–763. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1975.24.760. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Gysin J., Hommel M., da Silva L. P. Experimental infection of the squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus) with Plasmodium falciparum. J Parasitol. 1980 Dec;66(6):1003–1009. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Handunnetti S. M., Mendis K. N., David P. H. Antigenic variation of cloned Plasmodium fragile in its natural host Macaca sinica. Sequential appearance of successive variant antigenic types. J Exp Med. 1987 May 1;165(5):1269–1283. doi: 10.1084/jem.165.5.1269. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Hommel M., David P. H., Oligino L. D. Surface alterations of erythrocytes in Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Antigenic variation, antigenic diversity, and the role of the spleen. J Exp Med. 1983 Apr 1;157(4):1137–1148. doi: 10.1084/jem.157.4.1137. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Hommel M., David P. H. Plasmodium knowlesi variant antigens are found on schizont-infected erythrocytes but not on merozoites. Infect Immun. 1981 Jul;33(1):275–284. doi: 10.1128/iai.33.1.275-284.1981. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Hommel M., Semoff S. Expression and function of erythrocyte-associated surface antigens in malaria. Biol Cell. 1988;64(2):183–203. doi: 10.1016/0248-4900(88)90078-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Hommel M. The role of variant antigens in acquired immunity to Plasmodium falciparum. Ann Soc Belg Med Trop. 1985;65 (Suppl 2):57–67. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Howard R. J. Antigenic variation and antigenic diversity in malaria. Contrib Microbiol Immunol. 1987;8:176–218. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Hughes M. A., Hommel M., Crampton J. M. The use of biotin-labelled, synthetic DNA oligomers for the detection and identification of Plasmodium falciparum. Parasitology. 1990 Jun;100(Pt 3):383–387. doi: 10.1017/s0031182000078653. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Leech J. H., Barnwell J. W., Miller L. H., Howard R. J. Identification of a strain-specific malarial antigen exposed on the surface of Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes. J Exp Med. 1984 Jun 1;159(6):1567–1575. doi: 10.1084/jem.159.6.1567. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Marsh K., Sherwood J. A., Howard R. J. Parasite-infected-cell-agglutination and indirect immunofluorescence assays for detection of human serum antibodies bound to antigens on Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes. J Immunol Methods. 1986 Jul 11;91(1):107–115. doi: 10.1016/0022-1759(86)90108-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Oquendo P., Goman M., Mackay M., Langsley G., Walliker D., Scaife J. Characterisation of a repetitive DNA sequence from the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. Mol Biochem Parasitol. 1986 Jan;18(1):89–101. doi: 10.1016/0166-6851(86)90053-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Vickerman K. Antigenic variation in trypanosomes. Nature. 1978 Jun 22;273(5664):613–617. doi: 10.1038/273613a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Voller A. Variant specific schizont agglutination antibodies in human malaria (Plasmodium falciparum) infections in Aotus. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 1971;65(1):2–3. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Zolg J. W., Andrade L. E., Scott E. D. Detection of Plasmodium falciparum DNA using repetitive DNA clones as species specific probes. Mol Biochem Parasitol. 1987 Jan 15;22(2-3):145–151. doi: 10.1016/0166-6851(87)90044-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Infection and Immunity are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES