pfcrt and the ABCs of Chloroquine-Resistant Malaria

The appearance and spread of chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum have negatively affected malaria treatment over the last several decades. Researchers have only partially defined the genetic basis for this resistance. A gene (pfcrt) that encodes a protein that localizes to the digestive vacuole of the parasite has been previously implicated as a potential cause of chloroquine resistance. New work confirms this suspicion.

Investigators used an allelic-exchange approach to replace the endogenous pfcrt allele of a chloroquine-sensitive P. falciparum parasite line with pfcrt alleles from parasite lines found in Asia, Africa, and South America. These alleles had point mutations known to confer chloroquine resistance. Allelic exchange was …