近日，来自冈比亚的研究团队领衔合作报道了撒哈拉以南非洲地区恶性疟原虫的主要亚群。相关论文发表在2019年8月23日出版的《科学》杂志上。

了解非洲恶性疟原虫的基因组变异和种群结构对于维持消除疟疾的进展是必要的。来自15个非洲国家24个疟疾流行环境的2263株恶性疟原虫分离株的基因组聚类鉴定了主要的西部、中部和东部的疟原虫祖先，以及埃塞俄比亚高度分化的群体。疟原虫祖先与这些区域的疟原虫类型保持一致，并与寄生虫的起源和历史人类迁徙重叠。这些寄生虫种群是杂交的，并共享基因组单倍型，尤其是跨越抗药性基因座，其显示群体之间的强烈同一性下降。在加纳和马拉维，12号染色体上最近出现对青蒿素衍生物抗性基因选择的明显特征。这种选择和新兴的亚群可能会影响针对恶性疟原虫疟疾治疗的干预策略。
 

附：英文原文

Title: Major of Plasmodium falciparum in sub-Saharan Africa

Author: Alfred Amambua-Ngwa, Lucas Amenga-Etego, Edwin Kamau, Roberto Amato, Anita Ghansah, Lemu Golassa, Milijaona Randrianarivelojosia, Deus Ishengoma, Tobias Apinjoh, Oumou Maga-Ascofaré, Ben Andagalu, William Yavo, Marielle Bouyou-Akotet, Oyebola Kolapo, Karim Mane, Archibald Worwui, David Jeffries, Vikki Simpson, Umberto D’Alessandro, Dominic Kwiatkowski, Abdoulaye A. Djimde

Issue&Volume: Volume 365 Issue 6455

Abstract: Understanding genomic variation and population structure of Plasmodium falciparum across Africa is necessary to sustain progress toward malaria elimination. Genome clustering of 2263 P. falciparum isolates from 24 malaria-endemic settings in 15 African countries identified major western, central, and eastern ancestries, plus a highly divergent Ethiopian population. Ancestry aligned to these regional blocs, overlapping with both the parasite’s origin and with historical human migration. The parasite populations are interbred and shared genomic haplotypes, especially across drug resistance loci, which showed the strongest recent identity-by-descent between populations. A recent signature of selection on chromosome 12 with candidate resistance loci against artemisinin derivatives was evident in Ghana and Malawi. Such selection and the emerging substructure may affect treatment-based intervention strategies against P. falciparum malaria.

DOI: 10.1126/science.aav5427

Source:https://science.sciencemag.org/content/365/6455/813