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Efficient site-specific integration in Plasmodium falciparum chromosomes mediated by mycobacteriophage Bxb1 integrase

Nature Methods volume 3, pages 615–621 (2006)Cite this article

An Erratum to this article was published on 01 September 2006

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Abstract

Here we report an efficient, site-specific system of genetic integration into Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasite chromosomes. This is mediated by mycobacteriophage Bxb1 integrase, which catalyzes recombination between an incoming attP and a chromosomal attB site. We developed P. falciparum lines with the attB site integrated into the glutaredoxin-like cg6 gene. Transfection of these attB+ lines with a dual-plasmid system, expressing a transgene on an attP-containing plasmid together with a drug resistance gene and the integrase on a separate plasmid, produced recombinant parasites within 2 to 4 weeks that were genetically uniform for single-copy plasmid integration. Integrase-mediated recombination resulted in proper targeting of parasite proteins to intra-erythrocytic compartments, including the apicoplast, a plastid-like organelle. Recombinant attB × attP parasites were genetically stable in the absence of drug and were phenotypically homogeneous. This system can be exploited for rapid genetic integration and complementation analyses at any stage of the P. falciparum life cycle, and it illustrates the utility of Bxb1-based integrative recombination for genetic studies of intracellular eukaryotic organisms.

*Note: In the version of this article originally published figure 3 e-f appears in black and white due to a production error. The color version of this figure now has been substituted in the version of the paper available online. In addition, in the original version of figure 3 a, the pLN-ENR-GFP plasmid was incorrectly labeled with attB when the black box should indicate attP. The errors have been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article.

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Figure 1: Introduction of attB into the P.falciparum genome.
Figure 2: attB × attP recombination catalyzed in cis by integrase.
Figure 3: pfenr-GFP site-specific integration catalyzed in trans by integrase.
Figure 4: Phenotypic homogeneity of GFP-expressing integrant parasites.

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GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ

Change history

  • 31 July 2006

    In the version of this article originally published figure 3 e-f appears in black and white due to a production error. The color version of this figure now has been substituted in the version of the paper available online. In addition, in the original version of figure 3 a, the pLN-ENR-GFP plasmid was incorrectly labeled with attB when the black box should indicate attP. The errors have been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article.

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Acknowledgements

We thank P. Wang and J. Hyde (University of Manchester, UK) for their gift of the pPKDSneoII plasmid and G. McFadden (University of Melbourne, Australia) for his kind gift of the antibodies to ACP. We also gratefully acknowledge the Burroughs Wellcome Fund for providing a New Initiatives in Malaria Research Award (to W.R.J. and D.A.F.) that provided funding for this work, as well as US National Institutes of Health grants AI59114 to G.F.H. and AI060342 to D.A.F. and W.R.J. (P01; principal investigator, James C. Sacchettini).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, 10461, New York, USA

    Louis J Nkrumah, Rebecca A Muhle, Pedro A Moura, William R Jacobs Jr & David A Fidock

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, 4249 5th Avenue, Pittsburgh, 15260, Pennsylvania, USA

    Pallavi Ghosh & Graham F Hatfull

  3. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Pittsburgh, 4249 5th Avenue, Pittsburgh, 15260, Pennsylvania, USA

    Graham F Hatfull

  4. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, 10461, New York, USA

    William R Jacobs Jr

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Contributions

L.J.N., R.A.M., P.A.M., W.R.J. and D.A.F. designed the experiments, which were performed by L.J.N., R.A.M. and P.A.M. P.G. and G.F.H. provided integrase reagents and W.R.J., G.F.H. and D.A.F. conceived of the plan to test Bxb1 integrase in P. falciparum. All authors contributed to the manuscript, which was written primarily by L.J.N., R.A.M. and D.A.F. L.J.N. was co-mentored by D.A.F. and W.R.J.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to David A Fidock.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Fig. 1

Maps of P. falciparum plasmids used in the development of the Bxb1 integrase-mediated system of site-specific intergration. (PDF 490 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 2

Integration of the pCG6-attB plasmid into the hrp3 promoter by homologous recombination. (PDF 587 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 3

Stability of an attB x attP intergrated transgene over time in the absence of drug pressure, versus rapid loss of episomes from unselected parasites. (PDF 662 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 4

Plasmids greater than 10 kb in size stably intergrate into attB parasites. (PDF 950 kb)

Supplementary Table 1

Oligonucleotides. (PDF 20 kb)

Supplementary Methods (PDF 27 kb)

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Nkrumah, L., Muhle, R., Moura, P. et al. Efficient site-specific integration in Plasmodium falciparum chromosomes mediated by mycobacteriophage Bxb1 integrase. Nat Methods 3, 615–621 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth904

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