RESTRICTION POLYMORPHISMS AND FINGERPRINT PATTERNS FROM AN INTERSPERSED REPETITIVE ELEMENT OF PLASMODIUM-FALCIPARUM DNA

A recombinant DNA clone, pC4.H32, identifies distinguishable restricti on fragment patterns from different Plasmodium falciparum clones. Anal ysis of these DNA fingerprint patterns from parasites cultivated over several years and from progeny of a P. falciparum cross showed the fin gerprints to be mitotically and meiotically stable. Restriction fragme nts from the parents of the cross possessed sufficient polymorphism an d number to generate 14 unique fingerprint patterns in 16 independent recombinant progeny. The pC4.H32 insert contains a 0.5-kb imperfectly repeated sequence found in subtelomeric regions of multiple chromosome s. Restriction site variations both within and outside of the 0.5-kb r epeat contribute to the fingerprint polymorphisms. Fingerprint analysi s can serve to type P. falciparum clones and can detect mislabeling an d cross-contamination of parasite stocks.