Polymerase chain reaction detection of Plasmodium falciparum in mosquitoes

• Published in: Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Vol. 87; no. 3; pp. 273 - 275
• Main Authors: Tassanakajon, A., Boonsaeng, V., Wilairat, P., Panyim, S.
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.05.1993; Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene; Elsevier
• Subjects: Animals; Anopheles; Anopheles - parasitology; Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Culicidae; Diptera; DNA, Protozoan - isolation & purification; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene Amplification; Invertebrates; Medically important nuisances and vectors, pests of stored products and materials: population survey and control; Molecular Sequence Data; Plasmodium falciparum; Plasmodium falciparum - genetics; Plasmodium falciparum - isolation & purification; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Tropical medicine; Vectors. Intermediate hosts; Thailand; Asia; Polymerase chain reaction; Protozoa; Plasmodium falciparum; DNA; Gut; Salivary gland; Laboratory animal; Wild animal; Infestation; Detection; Sporozoa
• ISSN: 0035-9203; 1878-3503
• DOI: 10.1016/0035-9203(93)90124-9

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) procedure using a primer set derived from a repetitive deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequence specific to Plasmodium falciparum was used to detect parasite DNA in mosquitoes. In laboratory-infected mosquitoes, PCR could detect as few as 10 sporozoites in a dissected salivary gland and a single oocyst in a dissected midgut. The ability to detect P. falciparum DNA in wild-caught mosquitoes indicated an advantage of the PCR over enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the detection of Plasmodium sporozoites in mosquitoes with low-grade parasite infections.