scholarly journals Population genomic structure and adaptation in the zoonotic malaria parasite Plasmodium knowlesi

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (42) ◽  
pp. 13027-13032 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Assefa ◽  
Caeul Lim ◽  
Mark D. Preston ◽  
Craig W. Duffy ◽  
Mridul B. Nair ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Malaria Parasite ◽  
Plasmodium Knowlesi ◽  
Balancing Selection ◽  
Rhesus Macaques ◽  
Genomic Structure ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Peninsular Malaysia ◽  
Clinical Isolates ◽  
Fixation Index ◽  
Tajima’S D

Malaria cases caused by the zoonotic parasite Plasmodium knowlesi are being increasingly reported throughout Southeast Asia and in travelers returning from the region. To test for evidence of signatures of selection or unusual population structure in this parasite, we surveyed genome sequence diversity in 48 clinical isolates recently sampled from Malaysian Borneo and in five lines maintained in laboratory rhesus macaques after isolation in the 1960s from Peninsular Malaysia and the Philippines. Overall genomewide nucleotide diversity (π = 6.03 × 10−3) was much higher than has been seen in worldwide samples of either of the major endemic malaria parasite species Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax. A remarkable substructure is revealed within P. knowlesi, consisting of two major sympatric clusters of the clinical isolates and a third cluster comprising the laboratory isolates. There was deep differentiation between the two clusters of clinical isolates [mean genomewide fixation index (FST) = 0.21, with 9,293 SNPs having fixed differences of FST = 1.0]. This differentiation showed marked heterogeneity across the genome, with mean FST values of different chromosomes ranging from 0.08 to 0.34 and with further significant variation across regions within several chromosomes. Analysis of the largest cluster (cluster 1, 38 isolates) indicated long-term population growth, with negatively skewed allele frequency distributions (genomewide average Tajima’s D = −1.35). Against this background there was evidence of balancing selection on particular genes, including the circumsporozoite protein (csp) gene, which had the top Tajima’s D value (1.57), and scans of haplotype homozygosity implicate several genomic regions as being under recent positive selection.

scholarly journals Population Genomic Structure and Recent Evolution of Plasmodium knowlesi, Peninsular Malaysia

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 1749-1758
Author(s):  
Suzanne E. Hocking ◽  
Paul C.S. Divis ◽  
Khamisah A. Kadir ◽  
Balbir Singh ◽  
David J. Conway
Keyword(s):  
Plasmodium Knowlesi ◽  
Genomic Structure ◽  
Peninsular Malaysia ◽  
Population Genomic

scholarly journals Antimicrobial susceptibility, serotype distribution, virulence profile and molecular typing of piliated clinical isolates of pneumococci from east coast, Peninsular Malaysia

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nurul Diana Dzaraly ◽  
Mohd Nasir Mohd Desa ◽  
AbdulRahman Muthanna ◽  
Siti Norbaya Masri ◽  
Niazlin Mohd Taib ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Analysis ◽  
Antimicrobial Susceptibility ◽  
East Coast ◽  
Tertiary Hospital ◽  
Multidrug Resistant ◽  
Peninsular Malaysia ◽  
Clinical Isolates ◽  
Serotype Distribution ◽  
Antimicrobial Susceptibility Test ◽  
Conjugate Vaccines

AbstractPilus has been recently associated with pneumococcal pathogenesis in humans. The information regarding piliated isolates in Malaysia is scarce, especially in the less developed states on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Therefore, we studied the characteristics of pneumococci, including the piliated isolates, in relation to antimicrobial susceptibility, serotypes, and genotypes at a major tertiary hospital on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. A total of 100 clinical isolates collected between September 2017 and December 2019 were subjected to serotyping, antimicrobial susceptibility test, and detection of pneumococcal virulence and pilus genes. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and phylogenetic analysis were performed only for piliated strains. The most frequent serotypes were 14 (17%), 6A/B (16%), 23F (12%), 19A (11%), and 19F (11%). The majority of isolates were resistant to erythromycin (42%), tetracycline (37%), and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (24%). Piliated isolates occurred in a proportion of 19%; 47.3% of them were multidrug-resistant (MDR) and a majority had serotype 19F. This study showed ST236 was the most predominant sequence type (ST) among piliated isolates, which was related to PMEN clone Taiwan19F-14 (CC271). In the phylogenetic analysis, the piliated isolates were grouped into three major clades supported with 100% bootstrap values. Most piliated isolates belonged to internationally disseminated clones of S. pneumoniae, but pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) have the potential to control them.

scholarly journals Plasmodium vivax Cysteine-Rich Protective Antigen Polymorphism at Exon-1 Shows Recombination and Signatures of Balancing Selection

Genes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Lilia González-Cerón ◽  
José Cebrián-Carmona ◽  
Concepción M. Mesa-Valle ◽  
Federico García-Maroto ◽  
Frida Santillán-Valenzuela ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acid ◽  
B Cell ◽  
Plasmodium Vivax ◽  
Nucleotide Diversity ◽  
Protective Antigen ◽  
Balancing Selection ◽  
Southern Mexico ◽  
Exon 2 ◽  
Exon 1 ◽  
Tajima’S D

Plasmodium vivax Cysteine-Rich Protective Antigen (CyRPA) is a merozoite protein participating in the parasite invasion of human reticulocytes. During natural P. vivax infection, antibody responses against PvCyRPA have been detected. In children, low anti-CyRPA antibody titers correlated with clinical protection, which suggests this protein as a potential vaccine candidate. This work analyzed the genetic and amino acid diversity of pvcyrpa in Mexican and global parasites. Consensus coding sequences of pvcyrpa were obtained from seven isolates. Other sequences were extracted from a repository. Maximum likelihood phylogenetic trees, genetic diversity parameters, linkage disequilibrium (LD), and neutrality tests were analyzed, and the potential amino acid polymorphism participation in B-cell epitopes was investigated. In 22 sequences from Southern Mexico, two synonymous and 21 nonsynonymous mutations defined nine private haplotypes. These parasites had the highest LD-R2 index and the lowest nucleotide diversity compared to isolates from South America or Asia. The nucleotide diversity and Tajima’s D values varied across the coding gene. The exon-1 sequence had greater diversity and Rm values than those of exon-2. Exon-1 had significant positive values for Tajima’s D, β-α values, and for the Z (HA: dN > dS) and MK tests. These patterns were similar for parasites of different origin. The polymorphic amino acid residues at PvCyRPA resembled the conformational B-cell peptides reported in PfCyRPA. Diversity at pvcyrpa exon-1 is caused by mutation and recombination. This seems to be maintained by balancing selection, likely due to selective immune pressure, all of which merit further study.

scholarly journals In silico characterisation of putative Plasmodium falciparum vaccine candidates in African malaria populations

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Ajibola ◽  
M. F. Diop ◽  
A. Ghansah ◽  
L. Amenga-Etego ◽  
L. Golassa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plasmodium Falciparum ◽  
Malaria Vaccine ◽  
Transmembrane Domain ◽  
Vaccine Development ◽  
Balancing Selection ◽  
Immune Recognition ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Vaccine Candidates ◽  
D Values ◽  
Tajima’S D

AbstractGenetic diversity of surface exposed and stage specific Plasmodium falciparum immunogenic proteins pose a major roadblock to developing an effective malaria vaccine with broad and long-lasting immunity. We conducted a prospective genetic analysis of candidate antigens (msp1, ama1, rh5, eba175, glurp, celtos, csp, lsa3, Pfsea, trap, conserved chrom3, hyp9, hyp10, phistb, surfin8.2, and surfin14.1) for malaria vaccine development on 2375 P. falciparum sequences from 16 African countries. We described signatures of balancing selection inferred from positive values of Tajima’s D for all antigens across all populations except for glurp. This could be as a result of immune selection on these antigens as positive Tajima’s D values mapped to regions with putative immune epitopes. A less diverse phistb antigen was characterised with a transmembrane domain, glycophosphatidyl anchors between the N and C- terminals, and surface epitopes that could be targets of immune recognition. This study demonstrates the value of population genetic and immunoinformatic analysis for identifying and characterising new putative vaccine candidates towards improving strain transcending immunity, and vaccine efficacy across all endemic populations.

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