Geographic structure of Plasmodium vivax: microsatellite analysis of parasite populations from Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Ethiopia.
Genetic diversity and population structure of Plasmodium vivax parasites can predict the origin and spread of novel variants within a population enabling population specific malaria control measures. We analyzed the genetic diversity and population structure of 425 P. vivax isolates from Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Ethiopia using 12 trinucleotide and tetranucleotide microsatellite markers. All three parasite populations were highly polymorphic with 3-44 alleles per locus. Approximately 65% were multiple-clone infections. Mean genetic diversity (H(E)) was 0.7517 in Ethiopia, 0.8450 in Myanmar, and 0.8610 in Sri Lanka. Significant linkage disequilibrium was maintained. Population structure showed two clusters (Asian and African) according to geography and ancestry. Strong clustering of outbreak isolates from Sri Lanka and Ethiopia was observed. Predictive power of ancestry using two-thirds of the isolates as a model identified 78.2% of isolates accurately as being African or Asian. Microsatellite analysis is a useful tool for mapping short-term outbreaks of malaria and for predicting ancestry.
Gunawardena
Sharmini
S
Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Karunaweera
Nadira D
ND
Ferreira
Marcelo U
MU
Phone-Kyaw
Myatt
M
Pollack
Richard J
RJ
Alifrangis
Michael
M
Rajakaruna
Rupika S
RS
Konradsen
Flemming
F
Amerasinghe
Priyanie H
PH
Schousboe
Mette L
ML
Galappaththy
Gawrie N L
GN
Abeyasinghe
Rabindra R
RR
Hartl
Daniel L
DL
Wirth
Dyann F
DF
D003710:Demography; D005002:Ethiopia; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D002052:Myanmar; D010966:Plasmodium vivax / Q000235:genetics*; D013188:Sri Lanka