Recent Origin of Plasmodium falciparum from a Single Progenitor

Genetic variability of Plasmodium falciparum underlies its transmission success and thwarts efforts to control disease caused by this parasite. Genetic variation in antigenic, drug resistance, and pathogenesis determinants is abundant, consistent with an ancient origin of P. falciparum, whereas DNA...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2001-07, Vol.293 (5529), p.482-484
Main Authors: Volkman, Sarah K., Barry, Alyssa E., Lyons, Emily J., Nielsen, Kaare M., Thomas, Susan M., Choi, Mehee, Thakore, Seema S., Day, Karen P., Wirth, Dyann F., Hartl, Daniel L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Africa
Agriculture
Algae
Alternative Splicing
Animals
Archaea
Bacteria
Base Sequence
Biochemistry
Biochemistry. Physiology. Immunology. Molecular biology
Biological and medical sciences
Biological Evolution
Coding
Drug resistance
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Genes
Genes, Protozoan
Genetic aspects
Genetic Variation
Genetics
Genetics of eukaryotes. Biological and molecular evolution
Genomics
Humans
Introns
Malaria
Malaria, Falciparum - epidemiology
Malaria, Falciparum - parasitology
Malaria, Falciparum - transmission
Microorganisms
Microsatellite Repeats
Microsatellites
Molecular Sequence Data
Mutation
Parasites
Pathogenic microorganisms
Pathology
Plasmodium - genetics
Plasmodium falciparum
Plasmodium falciparum - genetics
Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
Protozoa
single nucleotide polymorphisms
Statistical Analysis
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Summary:Genetic variability of Plasmodium falciparum underlies its transmission success and thwarts efforts to control disease caused by this parasite. Genetic variation in antigenic, drug resistance, and pathogenesis determinants is abundant, consistent with an ancient origin of P. falciparum, whereas DNA variation at silent (synonymous) sites in coding sequences appears virtually absent, consistent with a recent origin of the parasite. To resolve this paradox, we analyzed introns and demonstrated that these are deficient in single-nucleotide polymorphisms, as are synonymous sites in coding regions. These data establish the recent origin of P. falciparum and further provide an explanation for the abundant diversity observed in antigen and other selected genes.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1059878