| Summary: | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Surveillance for drug-resistant <it>Plasmodium falciparum </it>should be a component of malaria control programmes. Real-time PCR methods for the detection of parasite single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and gene amplification could be useful survellance tools.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A real-time PCR assay has been developed that identifies single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at amino acids 86, 184, 1034 and 1042 in the <it>P. falciparum </it>multi-drug resistant (<it>pfmdr 1</it>) gene that may be associated with anti-malarial drug resistance.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>This assay has a sensitivity and specificity of 94% and 100% when compared to traditional PCR methods for genotyping. Only 54 of 68 (79%) paired pre- and post-culture DNA samples were concordant at all four loci.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Real-time PCR is a sensitive and specific method to detect SNP's in <it>pfmdr 1</it>. Genotypes of parasites after <it>in vitro </it>culture may not reflect that seen <it>in vivo</it>.</p>
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