title: Allelic variants of the Plasmodium falciparum merozoite surface antigen 2 (MSA-2) in a geographically restricted area of Irian Jaya.
abstract: Blood samples were collected from 12 residents of 4 villages in the Oksibil area of Irian Jaya. Eleven patients were positive for Plasmodium falciparum infection as evidenced by successful amplification of the MSA-2 gene by the polymerase chain reaction. Two patients showed evidence of infection by 2 strains of Plasmodium falciparum. All MSA-2 genes were completely sequenced and all could be assigned to one of the two major allelic families of MSA-2, however all MSA-2 gene sequences differed from previously described alleles. Five new allelic forms were identified, one of which was present in 8 of the 11 patients. Within small natural populations of P. falciparum, it appears that variation in MSA-2 approximates that seen world-wide. All samples were also analysed by hybridisation of amplified DNA to family specific probes and all samples hybridised to known probes. Our results demonstrate that there is a degree of microheterogeneity of MSA-2 that is undetectable by hybridisation studies alone.
authors.affiliation: Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: V M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Marshall
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Anthony
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Bangs
authors.lastname: Purnomo
authors.forename: R F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Anders
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Coppel
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D007214:Indonesia; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000469:parasitology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; C065974:merozoite surface protein 2, Plasmodium