Cloning and Sequence Analysis of Recombinant Plasmodium vivax Merozoite Surface Protein 1 (PvMSP-142 kDa) In pTZ57R/T Vector

Carboxy-terminal 42 kDa region of Plasmodium vivax merozoite surface protein-1 is considered as an important antigen in blood stage. Since, this region has been observed to be polymorphic among isolates of P. vivax, it is signifi­cant to survey on different regions of this antigen in various areas of the world. In the present study, the genetic diversity of cloned PvMSP-142 kDa gene from an Iranian patient is analyzed. Parasite DNA was extracted from a P. vivax - infected patient in Iran. The region of PvMSP-142 kDa was amplified by PCR, cloned into pTZ57R/T vector and then sequenced. Sequencing of cloned PvMSP-142 kDa gene clearly has a high degree of homology (95%) with reference Sal-I sequence and also with the homogeneous sequences from some studied countries (97%). 38 SNPs (single nucleotide polymor­phism) were identified in cloned PvMSP-142 kDa gene which the muta­tions had localized in the 33 kDa fragment (PvMSP-133 kDa), while there was nearly no variation in the 19 kDa fragment (PvMSP-119 kDa). 2 out of 38 muta­tions were found as to be novel haplotypes. High similarity of cloned PvMSP-142 kDa gene in comparison to reference sequence and other sequences could be beneficial as a remarkable molecu­lar marker for serological diagnostic kits of P. vivax in malarious neighbor­ing countries of Iran and around the world.