title: The malaria parasite Plasmodium vivax exhibits greater genetic diversity than Plasmodium falciparum.
abstract: We sequenced and annotated the genomes of four P. vivax strains collected from disparate geographic locations, tripling the number of genome sequences available for this understudied parasite and providing the first genome-wide perspective of global variability in this species. We observe approximately twice as much SNP diversity among these isolates as we do among a comparable collection of isolates of P. falciparum, a malaria-causing parasite that results in higher mortality. This indicates a distinct history of global colonization and/or a more stable demographic history for P. vivax relative to P. falciparum, which is thought to have undergone a recent population bottleneck. The SNP diversity, as well as additional microsatellite and gene family variability, suggests a capacity for greater functional variation in the global population of P. vivax. These findings warrant a deeper survey of variation in P. vivax to equip disease interventions targeting the distinctive biology of this neglected but major pathogen.
authors.affiliation: Broad Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Neafsey
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Galinsky
authors.forename: Rays H Y
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Lauren
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: Sean M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Sykes
authors.forename: Sakina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saif
authors.forename: Sharvari
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gujja
authors.forename: Jonathan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Goldberg
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: Qiandong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Sinéad B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.forename: Aditya P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Dash
authors.forename: Anupkumar R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Anvikar
authors.forename: Patrick L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Sutton
authors.forename: Bruce W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Birren
authors.forename: Ananias A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Escalante
authors.forename: John W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Barnwell
authors.forename: Jane M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Carlton
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D000569:Americas / Q000453:epidemiology; D000818:Animals; D001208:Asia / Q000453:epidemiology; D014644:Genetic Variation / Q000502:physiology; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000469:parasitology*; D016780:Malaria, Vivax / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010966:Plasmodium vivax / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000502:physiology