title: Compensatory evolution in the human malaria parasite Plasmodium ovale.
abstract: The fixation of neutral compensatory mutations in a population depends on the effective population size of the species, which can fluctuate dramatically within a few generations, the mutation rate, and the selection intensity associated with the individual mutations. We observe compensatory mutations and intermediate states in populations of the malaria parasite Plasmodium ovale. The appearance of compensatory mutations and intermediate states in P. ovale raises interesting questions about population structure that could have considerable impact on the control of the associated disease.
authors.affiliation: Growth and Development Section, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-0425, USA. tmccutchan@niaid.nih.gov
authors.forename: Thomas F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: McCutchan
authors.forename: Dharmendar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rathore
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006801:Humans; D008288:Malaria / Q000469:parasitology; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D010802:Phylogeny; D041122:Plasmodium ovale / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D016053:RNA, Protozoan / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D016053:RNA, Protozoan; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal