Abstract: Objective To analyze the efficiency and specificity of MSP2 alleles genotyping for Plasmodium falciparum isolates by Nest-PCR and PCR-RFLP. Methods MSP2 alleles from Plasmodium falciparum isolates of Yunnan and Hainan were genotyped by Nest-PCR and PCR-RFLP， respectively， and the efficiency and specificity of the two methods were analyzed. Results The conventional Nest-PCR method could detect 79.8% （166/208） alleles of MSP2，and 65.7% （65/99） for 3D7 family， but could not identify the type of any allele. While PCR-RFLP showed 25.3% higher genotyping efficiency than Nest-PCR. Moreover， this method could identify the allele types. Conclusion PCR-RFLP genotyping technique is more efficient and specific than conventional Nest-PCR， and it is a convenient tool in the study on molecular epidemiology of malaria.

Key words: Plasmodium falciparum, MSP-2, RFLP, Allele genotyping