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Mol Cell Biol. 1987 August; 7(8): 2968-2973

Changes in repeat number, sequence, and reading frame in S-antigen genes of Plasmodium falciparum.

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

ABSTRACT

The S antigens from different isolates of Plasmodium falciparum exhibit extensive size, charge, and serological diversity. We show here that the S-antigen genes behave as multiple alleles of a single locus. The size heterogeneity results from different numbers, lengths, and/or sequences of tandem repeat units encoded within the S-antigen genes. Two genes studied here encode antigenically different S antigens but nevertheless have closely related tandem repeat sequences. We show that antigenic differences can arise because repeats are translated in different reading frames.