Whole genome expression profiling across the asexual life cycle in PfBDP1 knockdown malaria parasites

To study the bromodomain protein PfBDP1 in the malaria parasite P. falciparum, a transgenic parasite line was generated (PfBDP1DD) in which PfBDP1 was tagged with a haemagglutinin tag and a ligand regulatable FKBP destabilization domain that allowed conditional knockdown of PfBDP1 by removal of the stabilizing ligand Shld1 from cultures. Shld1 was removed 30 hours post invasion (hpi) and the cells allowed to reinvade fresh red blood cells. The effects of PfBDP1 knockdown on gene expression were assessed by transcriptional profiling on microarrays over 6 consecutive time points (8 hour intervals) in the intraerythrocytic developmental cycle (IDC). Two condition matched time course experiment, PfBDP1DD ON versus OFF Shld1. Transgenic P. falciparum 3D7 parasites (PfBDP1DD) expressing an endogeneous PfBDP1-HA-DD fusion protein were grown in the presence of 2.5 nM WR99210/500 nM Shld1 (PfBDP1DD_ON) or 2.5 nM WR99210 (PfBDP1DD_OFF). After invasion, RNA was extracted at 6 consectutive time points in 8 hour intervals during the IDC, starting at 4 hpi, and was processed for microarray analysis. Three matched biological replicates were performed for both conditions, independently grown and harvested. Each array represents one RNA sample.