Abstract
ABSTRACTThe Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) harbors 11% of global malaria cases, yet little is known about the spatial and genetic structure of the parasite population in that country. We sequenced 2537 Plasmodium falciparum infections, including a nationally representative population sample from DRC and samples from surrounding countries, using molecular inversion probes - a novel high-throughput genotyping tool. We identified an east-west divide in haplotypes known to confer resistance to chloroquine and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine. Furthermore, we identified highly related parasites over large geographic distances, indicative of gene flow and migration. Our results were consistent with a background of isolation by distance combined with the effects of selection for antimalarial drug resistance. This study provides a high-resolution view of parasite genetic structure across a large country in Africa and provides a baseline to study how implementation programs may impact parasite populations.
Publisher
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Reference46 articles.
1. WHO | World malaria report 2017. (2018).
2. Neafsey, D. E. & Volkman, S. K. Malaria Genomics in the Era of Eradication. Cold Spring Harb. Perspect. Med. 7, (2017).
3. Malaria. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Available at: https://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Health/Malaria. (Accessed: 2nd May 2019)
4. World Health Organization. WHO: High Burden to High Impact. A targeted malaria response 2019.
5. Multiple Origins and Regional Dispersal of Resistant dhps in African Plasmodium falciparum Malaria