Efficient extraction and translation of Plasmodium falciparum messenger RNA

A convenient method was employed for the efficient extraction of total RNA from Plasmodium falciparum. By depleting the total RNA of tRNA, it was shown that P. falciparum or P. lophurae tRNAs markedly stimulate the translation of P. falciparum mRNA in the rabbit reticulocyte cell-free system. Analysis of the cell-free products revealed the presence of proteins well over 200 000 molecular weight, with the majority of polypeptides having high molecular weights. Thus, this system can now be used to isolate and characterize specific mRNA molecules from P. falciparum.