Analysis of the population structure of Plasmodium vivax isolates from different areas in China using microsatellites

Abstract

Objective To investigate the population structure and genetic diversity of Plasmodium vivax isolates from malaria-endemic areas in China,and to set up genetic database of vivax malaria.Methods Blood samples of symptomatic patients that were positive for P. vivax by microscope were collected from Yunnan,Hainan and Henan provinces and used for nested PCR amplification of DNA fragment containing microsatellite loci and detection of the microsatellite by Genescan.Then GENALEX software was used to calculate haplotype frequency,number of alleles and expeted heterozygosity ( He ).Results The length of 2.21 microsatellite was highly variable in P.vivax isolates from different areas in China.The number of the microsatellite alleles varied from 4 to 9,and expected heterozygosity ( He ) was 0.613 ～ 0.853.The microsatellite showed the highest diversity in the isolates from Yunnan where the number of allele is 9 and He means 0.853 compared to those in other areas.Conclusion The P.vivax isolates from different areas in China showed high genetic diversity and regionally-centered differences. Key words: Plasmodium vivax; Microsatellite; Population structure; Expected heterozygosity