Mutant/mutation
The mutant lacks expression of a putative kinase related protein (PKRP).

Protein (function)

Phenotype
Phenotype analyses indicate that PKRP plays a role during ookinete/oocyst development. The mutant shows reduced numbers of oocysts and salivary gland sporozoites. However, the protein appears not to be essential for formation of mature oocysts and infective sporozoites.

See also RMgm-520 for an independen mutant lacking expression of PKRP (PBANKA_040940). Phenotype analyses of this mutant showed the following characteristics: Ookinete formation not different from wild type; Oocyst numbers (day12-14) reduced to 50% of wild type; Salivary gland sporozoite numbers reduced to 10% of wild type; No transmission by mosquito bite.

Additional information
Expression data from this gene shows intermediate level expression in sporozoites, low-level expression throughout the asexual stages and highest levels in gametocytes.

The pkrp gene was targeted for complete deletion according to the gene model (PB001650.02.0) which was obtained from PlasmoDB. However, the latest Sanger sequencing and re-annotation effort has revealed that the pkrp ORF is much longer than initially described; the gene has now been re-named PBANKA_040940 (GeneDB). Consequently, this mutant has only part (i.e. N’ terminal deletion) of the ORF removed.

Disruption of the P. falciparum ortholog, PFC0485w, has been reported by Agarwal, S et al. (2011; J Cell Biochem). In this paper no information on the phenotype of mutants with a disrupted PFC0485w gene is provided.

Disruption of the P. falciparum ortholog has been attempted (Solyakov et al., 2011, Nat Commun, 2:565). After transfection with a KO vector a strong PCR signal diagnostic for gene disruption was observed in transfected populations indicating that this gene is not essential for asexual proliferation. Cloning will however be required to validate this interpretation for this

Other mutants
RMgm-520: an independen mutant lacking expression of PKRP (PBANKA_040940)