title: Cloning and sequence characterisation of falcipain-2 from Plasmodium falciparum Gombak A strain (Malaysia).
abstract: In this study, the genome of the Plasmodium falciparum Gombak A strain was examined for the presence of a gene encoding falcipain-2, a cysteine protease, using homology-based polymerase chain reaction cloning. The nucleotide sequence obtained from the gene cloned (designated pFG1) is approximately 99% homologous to other falcipain-2 genes from different strains. Comparatively, it is 69% homologous to falcipain-3 genes. Direct cloning of the falcipain-2 gene and its resemblance to the reported corresponding mRNA transcript suggests the absence of introns in this gene. Sequence alignment and comparison revealed four amino acid differences at positions 15, 51, 59 and 414 in the falcipain-2 from P. falciparum Gombak A as compared to other falcipain-2 proteins from different strains.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore. micsimts@nus.edu.sg
authors.forename: T S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Sim
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Loke
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Flotow
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017125:Genes, Protozoan; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases; C416224:falcipain 2