Distinctive genetic structure and selection patterns in Plasmodium vivax from South Asia and East Africa

Author(s):Show less -

Benavente, Ernest Diez ^[1] ; Manko, Emilia ^[1] ; Phelan, Jody ^[1] ; Campos, Monica ^[1] ; Nolder, Debbie ^{[1, 2]} ; Fernandez, Diana ^[3] ; Velez-Tobon, Gabriel ^[3] ; Tobon Castano, Alberto ^[3] ; Dombrowski, Jamille G. ^[4] ; Marinho, Claudio R. F. ^[4] ; Aguiar, Anna Caroline C. ^[4] ; Pereira, Dhelio Batista ^[5] ; Sriprawat, Kanlaya ^[6] ; Nosten, Francois ^{[6, 7]} ; Moon, Robert ^[1] ; Sutherland, Colin J. ^{[1, 2]} ; Campino, Susana ^[1] ; Clark, Taane G. ^{[8, 1]}

Affiliation

^[1] London Sch Hyg & Trop Med, Fac Infect & Trop Dis, London - England

^[2] London Sch Hyg & Trop Med, Publ Hlth England Malaria Reference Lab, London - England

^[3] Univ Antioquia, Fac Med, Grp Malaria, Antioquia - Colombia

^[4] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Biomed Sci, Dept Parasitol, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[5] Res Ctr Trop Med Rondonia, Porto Velho - Brazil

^[6] Mahidol Univ, Fac Trop Med, Shoklo Malaria Res Unit, Mahidol Oxford Trop Med Res Unit, Mae Sot, Tak - Thailand

^[7] Univ Oxford, Ctr Trop Med & Global Hlth, Nuffield Dept Clin Med, Res Bldg, Old Rd Campus, Oxford - England

^[8] London Sch Hyg & Trop Med, Fac Epidemiol & Populat Hlth, London - England

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: NATURE COMMUNICATIONS; v. 12, n. 1 MAY 26 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 1

Abstract

Despite the high burden of Plasmodium vivax malaria in South Asian countries, the genetic diversity of circulating parasite populations is not well described. Determinants of antimalarial drug susceptibility for P. vivax in the region have not been characterised. Our genomic analysis of global P. vivax (n=558) establishes South Asian isolates (n=92) as a distinct subpopulation, which shares ancestry with some East African and South East Asian parasites. Signals of positive selection are linked to drug resistance-associated loci including pvkelch10, pvmrp1, pvdhfr and pvdhps, and two loci linked to P. vivax invasion of reticulocytes, pvrbp1a and pvrbp1b. Significant identity-by-descent was found in extended chromosome regions common to P. vivax from India and Ethiopia, including the pvdbp gene associated with Duffy blood group binding. Our investigation provides new understanding of global P. vivax population structure and genomic diversity, and genetic evidence of recent directional selection in this important human pathogen. The genetic diversity of Plasmodium vivax strains in South Asia isn't well described. Here, the authors sequence P. vivax from returning UK travelers and establish South Asian isolates as subpopulation distinct from East African and South East Asian isolates. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 19/12068-5 - Identification of predictive biomarkers of placental dysfunction in Malaria
• Grantee: Jamille Gregório Dombrowski
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 18/20468-0 - Recrudescence of the malaria during pregnancy: effects and mechanisms
• Grantee: Cláudio Romero Farias Marinho
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants