Alu elements in a Plasmodium vivax antigen gene

FEBS Letters

Sharma, Yagya D¹  Dhar, Arindam¹  Gupta, Seema¹ 

[1] Department of Biotechnology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi-110029, India

关键词: Alu element;    Evolution;    Human malaria parasite;    Plasmodium vivax;    ORF;    open reading frame;    PCR;    polymerase chain reaction;    RT-PCR;    reverse transcription PCR;   

DOI  :  10.1016/S0014-5793(98)00078-7

学科分类：生物化学/生物物理

来源: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

【 摘 要 】

Plasmodium vivax is a very common human malaria parasite but it is poorly characterized at the molecular level. Here, we describe the isolation and characterization of an antigen coding gene of P. vivax which contains Alu elements. This gene, called Pv-Alu, is expressed during the erythrocytic phase of the parasite. The encoded 200 amino acid long polypeptide is highly hydrophobic, contains transmembrane domains, and is rich in leucine (19.4%), serine (15.9%), proline (15.4%) and phenylalanine (15.4%). The 5′-untranslated region and part of the 3′-end coding region of Pv-Alu show significant homology to different Alu families. The presence of Alu elements in the coding region of a parasite antigen gene is significant from a functional and evolutionary viewpoint.

【 授权许可】

Unknown