Figure 3.

Telomere length is highly variable in field isolates. A, Telomere restriction fragment (TRF) Southern blot showing telomere lengths in genomic DNA from 3D7 (wild type [WT]), compared with 3D7Sir2a+ (34 days after transfection). B, TRF Southern blot showing telomere lengths in parasite DNA from Gambian field isolates. C, Telomere lengths in field isolates plotted against relative transcript abundance of PfTERT in mature-stage parasites. Transcript abundance was measured as described in Figure 2C (Spearman q = 0.04; linear fit shown).