Human antisera detect a Plasmodium falciparum genomic clone encoding a nonapeptide repeat.

Plasmodium falciparum causes malaria infections in its human host. Its wide distribution in tropical countries is a major world health problem. Before a vaccine can be produced, the identification and characterization of parasite antigens is necessary. This can be achieved by the cloning and subsequent analysis of genes coding for parasite antigens. Recently established cDNA banks allow the expression of cDNA derived from the simian parasite Plasmodium knowlesi and P. falciparum in Escherichia coli. Recombinants encoding parasite antigens have been identified by immunodetection in both banks. Two of them contain repetitive units of 11 (ref. 7) or 12 (ref. 5) amino acids. We describe here the construction of an expression bank made directly from randomly generated fragments of P. falciparum genomic DNA. We detect several clones which react strongly with human African immune sera. One clone expresses an antigenic determinant composed of occasionally degenerated repeats of a peptide nonamer.