EXPRESSION OF ALPHA-TUBULIN AND BETA-TUBULIN GENES DURING THE ASEXUAL AND SEXUAL BLOOD STAGES OF PLASMODIUM-FALCIPARUM

Malaria parasites switch to sexual development after a period of vegetative growth in the host's erythrocytes. This switch, vital for parasite transmission to mosquitoes, is little understood at the genetic level. Likely candidates for developmental control are the α- and β-tubulin subunits required for microtubule assembly. We report here that the transcription of the α- and β-tubulin genes in Plasmodium falciparum show a radically different pattern of transcription in the asexual and sexual phases of parasite growth. Our studies lead to the conclusion that three transcripts of the β-tubulin gene differ by sequences in their 5′- or 3′-untranslated regions. © 1990.