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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Apr 24.
Published in final edited form as: Mol Microbiol. 2007 Jun;64(6):1486–1498. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2007.05736.x

Figure 5. Comparison of var gene switching in NF54 parasites expressing the subtelomeric var2csa locus and in NF54 parasites expressing a central var gene.

Figure 5

The relative contribution of each var gene to total transcriptional activity of the var gene family is shown. Each slice of the pie represents transcription from an individual var gene, with the genes arranged in a clockwise direction from most highly expressed to least, starting from the top of the graph. Central var genes are colored in red and subtelomeric var genes are colored in light blue. Panel A. Expression pattern of an NF54 parasite population selected for CSA binding. Immediately after selection the culture exclusively expresses the locus PFL0030c located in the subtelomeric region of chromosome 12. Panel B. The same culture following 12 weeks of unselected growth. A large part of the population has switched away from the var2csa gene to other var loci. Panel C. var gene expression in the clonal culture A3 that exclusively expresses the central var gene MAL6P1.252 on chromosome 6. Panel D. After 13 weeks of continuous growth the expression of MAL6P1.252 is unchanged indicating an immeasurably low off rate for this locus.