Cloning and sequence characterisation of falcipain-2 from Plasmodium falciparam Gombak A strain (Malaysia)

In this study, the genome of the Plasmodium falciparum Gombak A strain was examined for the presence of a gene encoding falcipain-2, a cysteine protea se, using homology-based polymerase chain reaction cloning. The nucleotide sequence obtained from the gene cloned (designated pFG1) is similar to 99% homologous to other falcipain-2 genes from different strains. Comparatively , it is 69% homologous to falcipain-3 genes. Direct cloning of the falcipai n-2 gene and its resemblance to the reported corresponding mRNA transcript suggests the absence of introns in this gene. Sequence alignment and compar ison revealed four amino acid differences at positions 15, 51, 59 and 414 i n the falcipain-2 from P. falciparum Gombak A as compared to other falcipai n-2 proteins from different strains.