RNASeq of Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 WT compared to MSP2 KO

Plasmodium falciparum malaria remains a global health challenge and causes a significant number of deaths in tropical and subtropical countries annually. Merozoite surface proteins, located of the surface of the invasive stage of the parasite, are targets of immunity and have been explored as vaccine candidates. Here we removed the highly abundant surface protein MSP2 by CRISPR Cas9 to study the role of this protein. RNA samples were taken of schizonts stage parasites to examine any changes at the transcriptome level as a consequence of MSP2 KO. P. falciparum cultures were centirfuged before resuspension in Trizol and RNA purification performed using chloroform in combination with RNeasy Kit (Qiagen). DNAseing was performed to ensure absence of genomic DNA. RNA sequencing of the schizont stage transcriptome of Pf3D7 MSP2 KO and Pf3D7 WT was performed using the Illumina total RNA with Ribo Zero plus for library preparation and sequenced on the NovaSeq 6000 platform with 2×150 bp paired end reads.