Transcriptome of 3D7 and its gametocyte-less derivative F12 Plasmodium falciparum clones during erythrocytic development using a gene-specific microarray assigned to gene regulation, cell cycle and transcription factors.
During the complex life cycle of Plasmodium falciparum, through mosquito and human, the erythrocytic cycle is responsible for malarial disease and transmission. The regulation of events that occur during parasite development, such as proliferation and differentiation, implies a fine control of transcriptional activities that in turn governs the expression profiles of sets of genes. Pathways that underline gametocyte commitment are yet poorly understood even though kinases and transcription factors have been assumed to play a crucial role in this event. In order to understand the molecular mechanisms controlling the variation of gene expression profiles that might participate in early gametocytogenesis, the transcriptome of two clones, 3D7 and its gametocyte-less derivative F12, was compared at five time points of the erythrocytic asexual development. We have used a thematic DNA microarray containing 150 PCR fragments, representative of P. falciparum genes involved in signal transduction, cell cycle and transcriptional regulation. We identified several genes eliciting different expression profiles among which some implicated in gene regulation or encoding putative transcription factors. The differential expression of transcription factor and kinase transcripts observed in the two clones may enlighten genes that might have a role in impairment of the early gametocytogenesis of the F12 clone.
INSERM U511, CHU Pitié-Salpêtrière, Université Paris 6, 91 boulevard de l'Hôpital, 75013 Paris, France.
Mathieu
M
Gissot
Philippe
P
Refour
Sylvie
S
Briquet
Charlotte
C
Boschet
Stéphane
S
Coupé
Dominique
D
Mazier
Catherine
C
Vaquero
D000818:Animals; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000469:parasitology*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D017125:Genes, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*
D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors