A system for functional studies of the major virulence factor of malaria parasites

The major virulence factor of Plasmodium falciparum parasites, PfEMP1 is expressed by a multigene family, termed var genes. Here selection linked integration (SLI) was utilized to modify var genes in P. falciparum parasites to select for parasite populations expressing a single var gene. Bulk RNA was isolated from ring stage parasites of these SLI parasite populations and analyzed with next generation sequencing. The proportion of exon 2 transcripts of var genes normalized to transcripts per million was determined per cell line to confirm the predominant expression of the desired var gene. RNA-seq samples of Plasmodium falciparum infected human erythorcyes