title: Near-fixation of a Pfmsp1 block 2 allelic variant in genetically diverse Plasmodium falciparum populations across Western Colombia.
abstract: Assessment of the genetic diversity of Plasmodium falciparum in 110 Colombian isolates revealed that nearly all the parasites in the 97 isolates collected in endemic regions west of the Andes shared the same Pfmsp1 block 2 MAD20-type allelic variant, despite showing high diversity for other genetical markers. Analysis of published data indicated that the prevalence of this allelic variant of a major vaccine candidate antigen was already dominant since 1998. This phenomenon, which had not been hitherto recorded for a malaria blood stage antigen, is of biological and immunological interest but remains unexplained.
authors.affiliation: Programa de Estudio y Control de Enfermedades Tropicales, PECET, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Antioquia, Sede de Investigación Universitaria, Carrera 53 No 61-30, Laboratorio 632, Medellín, Colombia.
authors.forename: Judy Natalia
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Jiménez
authors.forename: Georges
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Snounou
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Letourneur
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rénia
authors.forename: Iván D
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Vélez
authors.forename: Carlos E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Muskus
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D003105:Colombia; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005787:Gene Frequency; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000469:parasitology; D020066:Merozoite Surface Protein 1 / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D020066:Merozoite Surface Protein 1