A Barcode of Organellar Genome Polymorphisms Identifies the Geographic Origin of Plasmodium Falciparum Strains

Overview

Journal Nat Commun

Specialty Biology

Date 2014 Jun 14

PMID 24923250

Citations 88

Authors

Mark D Preston

Susana Campino

Samuel A Assefa

Diego F Echeverry

Harold Ocholla

Alfred Amambua-Ngwa

Lindsay B Stewart

David J Conway

Steffen Borrmann

Pascal Michon

Issaka Zongo

Jean-Bosco Ouedraogo

Abdoulaye A Djimde

Ogobara K Doumbo

Francois Nosten

Arnab Pain

Teun Bousema

Chris J Drakeley

Rick M Fairhurst

Colin J Sutherland

Cally Roper

Taane G Clark

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Malaria is a major public health problem that is actively being addressed in a global eradication campaign. Increased population mobility through international air travel has elevated the risk of re-introducing parasites to elimination areas and dispersing drug-resistant parasites to new regions. A simple genetic marker that quickly and accurately identifies the geographic origin of infections would be a valuable public health tool for locating the source of imported outbreaks. Here we analyse the mitochondrion and apicoplast genomes of 711 Plasmodium falciparum isolates from 14 countries, and find evidence that they are non-recombining and co-inherited. The high degree of linkage produces a panel of relatively few single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that is geographically informative. We design a 23-SNP barcode that is highly predictive (~92%) and easily adapted to aid case management in the field and survey parasite migration worldwide.

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