Microgeographically diverse Plasmodium vivax populations at the Thai-Myanmar border

TitleMicrogeographically diverse Plasmodium vivax populations at the Thai-Myanmar border
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2016
AuthorsGupta, B, Parker, DM, Fan, Q, Reddy, BP, Yan, G, Sattabongkot, J, Cui, L
JournalInfect Genet Evol
Volume45
Pagination341-346
Date PublishedSep 28
ISBN Number1567-7257 (Electronic)1567-1348 (Linking)
KeywordsGenetic diversity, Microgeographic, Plasmodium vivax, Pvmsp3alpha, Pvmsp3beta, Thai-Myanmar
Abstract

Malaria transmission along international borders of the Greater Mekong Subregion is a big challenge for regional malaria elimination. At the Thai-Myanmar border, Plasmodium falciparum cases have dropped dramatically; however, increasing P. vivax prevalence and the emerging reports on hidden malaria burden due to asymptomatic infections demand attention. We conducted cross-sectional surveys to detect asymptomatic malaria infections in a small village located at Thai-Myanmar border and genotyped P. vivax infections in order to understand the level of genetic diversity on such a microgeographic scale. PCR/RFLP and DNA sequencing identified high levels of genetic polymorphisms at both Pvmsp3alpha and Pvmsp3beta loci among P. vivax infections. Combining the PCR/RFLP patterns of Pvmsp3alpha and Pvmsp3beta, a total of 10 genotypes were observed among 17 samples, while concatenated DNA sequences of Pvmsp3alpha and 3beta generated 14 haplotypes with haplotype diversity of 0.97. These markedly diverse parasites on a microgeographic scale suggest the circulation of a considerably large parasite population at the international border.

URLhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S156713481630404Xhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5123908/pdf/nihms-820600.pdf