Genetic diversity of Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 in field isolates from central Myanmar

초록

Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1), encoded by the poly-morphic var multigene family, is a highly polymorphic antigen that plays a crucial role in the pathology of malaria. The contribution of the genetic diversity of var toward the im-mune escape of P. falciparum has not yet been fully elucidated. This study aimed to char-acterize the diversity of var repertoires by screening P. falciparum Duffy-binding-like alpha domain (PfDBL alpha) among field isolates from central Myanmar. Genetic analysis revealed that the D-H segments of var in Myanmar populations have an extensive polymorphic repertoire, with high numbers of unique sequence types in each individual. However, var genes from the global population, including Myanmar, shared close genetic lineages re-gardless of their geographic origins, indicating that they have not undergone rapid evo-lutionary changes.

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