Genotypic profile before and after PCR cloning.

PCR products from primary infection samples amplified using two randomly chosen molecular markers of four patients were cloned, and up to 26 colonies (mean of 11 colonies) were genotyped. (A) Each form represents an allele, size indicates predominant (larger) or rare alleles (smaller); color represents alleles of a distinct marker: MSP1bl10– red; MS07– blue; MSP1bl2– green; MS02– purple. The presence of two or more forms characterizes a multiple-clone infection. Before cloning the predominant allele was identified as the heighest peak in genotyping and the rare allele as the peak with one-third of the predominant peak height. After cloning the frequencies were inferred by the number of bacteria clones. The only relapse sample also cloned is indicated by an asterisk. (B) Frequency of each allele in primary infections after cloning measured by the percent of bacterial colonies genotyped with each allele (represented by different colors).