Mutant/mutation
The mutant lacks expression of UIS12 and expresses GFP under the constitutive eef1a promoter

Protein (function)
The gene had been identified as a gene with upregulated transcription in sporozoites.
The gene two ~70 amino acid long RNA-recognition motifs (RRM), belonging to the class of RNA-binding domains (RBD). The UIS12 gene, and particularly the two RRM domains, are highly conserved between different Plasmodium UIS12 orthologs, while in a candidate Toxoplasma gondii ortholog, the conservation is limited to the two RRM domains only. In general, the amino- and carboxy- terminal regions are less conserved, and all Plasmodium ortholog proteins have similar sizes of ~1,300 amino acid residues.  The PbUIS12 coding region has a total length of 4,070 base pairs and consists of two exons. Of note, the two regions encoding the RRM domains are separated by the single intron, which also exhibits a degree of conservation.

Phenotype
Normal asexual growth/multiplication of asexual blood stages. Reduced production of gametocytes, reduced exflagellation of male gametocytes. Reduced numbers of oocysts. Oocysts remain small and no sporozoite formation inside oocysts. While up until day 4 the oocyst size was comparable between mutant and wild type oocysts, over time uis12(-) oocysts displayed an abnormal morphology. Their size remained unchanged, whereas the wild type oocyst diameter increased ~10-fold over the following ten days. No midgut or salivary gland sporozoites.

Additional information
We measured UIS12 transcript abundance throughout the P. berghei life cycle by quantitative RT-PCR. In good agreement with the previous notion of up-regulation in salivary gland sporozoites, UIS12 mRNA steady state levels are low in midgut oocysts and highest in salivary gland sporozoites. High UIS12 transcript levels were also detected in early (24h) liver stages. In mixed asexual blood stages UIS12 mRNA levels are low, whereas in schizonts, gametocytes and ookinetes, considerable expression was detected.

An independent mutant lacking uis12 has been made in the reference Bergreen P. berghei ANKA line (RMgm-757) expressing GFP under control of the constitutive hsp70 promoter

Other mutants