Genetic diversity of Plasmodium vivax revealed by the merozoite surface protein-1 icb5-6 fragment

Abstract

Background Plasmodium vivax remains a potential cause of morbidity and mortality for people living in its endemic areas. Understanding the genetic diversity of P. vivax from different regions is valuable for studying population dynamics and tracing the origins of parasites. The PvMSP-1 gene is highly polymorphic and has been used as a marker in many P. vivax population studies. The aim of this study was to investigate the genetic diversity of the PvMSP-1 gene icb5-6 fragment and to provide more genetic polymorphism data for further studies on P. vivax population structure and tracking of the origin of clinical cases.MethodsNested PCR and sequencing of the PvMSP-1 icb5-6 marker were performed to obtain the nucleotide sequences of 95 P. vivax isolates collected from Zhejiang province, China. To investigate the genetic diversity of PvMSP-1, the 95 nucleotide sequences of the PvMSP-1 icb5-6 fragment were genotyped and analyzed using DnaSP v5, MEGA software.ResultsThe 95 P. vivax isolates collected from Zhejiang province were either indigenous cases or imported cases from different regions around the world. A total of 95 sequences ranging from 390 to 460 bp were obtained. The 95 sequences were genotyped into four allele-types (Sal I, Belem, R-III and R-IV) and 17 unique haplotypes. R-III and Sal I were the predominant allele-types. The haplotype diversity (Hd) and nucleotide diversity (Pi) were estimated to be 0.729 and 0.062, indicating that the PvMSP-1 icb5-6 fragment had the highest level of polymorphism due to frequent recombination processes and single nucleotide polymorphism. The values of dN/dS and Tajima’s D both suggested neutral selection for the PvMSP-1icb5-6 fragment. In addition, a rare recombinant style of R-IV type was identified.ConclusionsThis study presented high genetic diversity in the PvMSP-1 marker among P. vivax strains from around the world. The genetic data is valuable for expanding the polymorphism information on P. vivax, which could be helpful for further study on population dynamics and tracking the origin of P. vivax.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40249-017-0302-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Balancing selection and high genetic diversity of Plasmodium vivax circumsporozoite central region in parasites from Brazilian Amazon and Rio de Janeiro Atlantic Forest

“…VK247 seems to be more common in South-eastern Asia [ 29 – 32 ]. The vivax-like variant is identical to those described for P .…”

Temporal Changes in the Genetic Diversity of Plasmodium vivax Merozoite Surface Protein-1 in Myanmar

“…Previously, we identified and reported large genetic polymorphism involving pvmsp-1 block 6 (ICB 5-6) in P. vivax isolates collected in Mandalay in Myanmar in 2004 [ 12 ]. The ICB 5-6 is a partial fragment of the block 6 variable region in the pvmsp-1 , and shows diverse polymorphic characters caused by insertions, deletions, intra-allelic recombination, and point mutations [ 10 , 13 , 14 ]. The extreme genetic polymorphic nature of pvmsp-1 ICB 5-6 has rendered it a reliable polymorphic marker for genetic structure analysis of P. vivax [ 10 , 13 , 14 , 15 ].…”

“…The ICB 5-6 is a partial fragment of the block 6 variable region in the pvmsp-1 , and shows diverse polymorphic characters caused by insertions, deletions, intra-allelic recombination, and point mutations [ 10 , 13 , 14 ]. The extreme genetic polymorphic nature of pvmsp-1 ICB 5-6 has rendered it a reliable polymorphic marker for genetic structure analysis of P. vivax [ 10 , 13 , 14 , 15 ]. In the present study, we analyzed the genetic polymorphism of pvmsp-1 ICB 5-6 in P. vivax isolates collected in the same areas of Myanmar between 2013 and 2015 to elucidate the time-series changes of the gene to evaluate its genetic heterogeneity and the evolutionary events in the P. vivax population of Myanmar.…”

Genetic Diversity of Plasmodium vivax Reticulocyte Binding Protein 2b in Global Parasite Populations

“…This study evaluated the genetic diversity of PvRBP2b as a P. vivax malaria blood-stage vaccine candidate. The overall nucleotide diversity of PvRBP2b from the global samples was modest (0.00196), much lower than that of the highly polymorphic surface antigens, such as PvAMA1 and PvMSP1 [51,52].…”