title: Sequence diversity of the C-terminal region of Plasmodium falciparum merozoite surface protein 1 in southern Iran.
abstract: The C-terminal region of the merozoite surface protein 1 (MSP-1) of Plasmodium falciparum is a strong vaccine candidate as it is associated with immunity to the parasite. This corresponds approximately to the conserved 17th block of the gene and is composed of two EGF- like domains. These domains exhibit only four single amino acid substitutions which show several potential variants in this region of the gene. As the variations might be important for a regional vaccine design, a study was carried out to determine the variations present in P. falciparum isolates from southern Iran. Besides the usual E-T-S-R-L and the Q-K-N-G-F types, we found Q-T-S-R-L, E-K-N-G-F, E-T-S-G-L, Z-T-S-G-L and Z-T-S-R-L types, where Z was E or Q signifying the presence of mixed clones in single isolates.
authors.affiliation: Biochemistry Department, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran. zzahrazamani@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zamani
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Razavi
authors.forename: Sedigheh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sadeghi
authors.forename: Saeed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Naddaf
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pourfallah
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mirkhani
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arjmand
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Feizhaddad
authors.forename: Mina Ebrahimi
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Rad
authors.forename: Mina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ebrahimi Rad
authors.forename: Marzieh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tameemi
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Assmar