Abstract
Plasmodium vivax is increasingly the dominant species of malaria in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), which is pursuing regional malaria elimination. P. vivax lineages in the GMS are poorly characterized. Currently, P. vivax reference genomes are scarce due to difficulties in culturing the parasite and lack of high-quality samples. In addition, P. vivax is incredibly diverse, necessitating the procurement of reference genomes from different geographical regions. Here we present four new P. vivax draft genomes assembled de novo from clinical samples collected in the China-Myanmar border area. We demonstrate comparable length and content to existing genomes, with the majority of structural variation occurring around subtelomeric regions and exported proteins, which we corroborated with detection of copy number variations in these regions. We predicted peptides from all PIR gene subfamilies, except for PIR D. We confirmed that proteins classically labeled as PIR D family members are not identifiable by PIR motifs, and actually bear stronger resemblance to DUF (domain of unknown function) family DUF3671, potentially pointing to a new, closely related gene family. Further, phylogenetic analyses of MSP7 genes showed high variability within the MSP7-B family compared to MSP7-A and -C families, and the result was comparable to that from whole genome analyses. The new genome assemblies serve as a resource for studying P. vivax within the GMS.
Highlights
The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) is problematic in the grand scheme of malaria control due to the repeated emergence of antimalarial resistance in this region (Cui et al, 2012; WHO, 2016; Imwong et al, 2017)
There are indications that chloroquine resistance in P. vivax has emerged in areas of the GMS, which may further create a challenge for treatment (Price et al, 2014)
Patients with acute P. vivax malaria presented at the hospital and clinics of Laiza town, Kachin State, Myanmar and Nabang Township, Yunnan Province, China were recruited after obtaining written informed consent
Summary
The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) is problematic in the grand scheme of malaria control due to the repeated emergence of antimalarial resistance in this region (Cui et al, 2012; WHO, 2016; Imwong et al, 2017). The China-Myanmar border is an example of an area wherein cross-border migration is . New P. vivax Genomes concerning and can result in outbreaks in the less endemic area (Duan et al, 2013; Lo et al, 2015, 2017). As of 2016, Plasmodium vivax was responsible for between 40 and 60% of malaria cases in the GMS countries, and the vast majority of malaria on the China-Myanmar border (WHO, 2018; Geng et al, 2019). Plasmodium vivax has a hypnozoite stage which will go dormant for long periods of time before re-emerging to cause relapses. This biological feature makes this parasite resilient to conventional control measures that are designed to treat Plasmodium falciparum. The lack of samples with high parasitemia has created barriers to creating necessary genomic resources such as reference genomes
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