Sequence diversity and natural selection at domain I of the apical membrane antigen 1 among Indian Plasmodium falciparum populations.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The Plasmodium falciparum apical membrane antigen 1 (AMA1) is a leading malaria vaccine candidate antigen. The complete AMA1 protein is comprised of three domains where domain I exhibits high sequence polymorphism and is thus named as the hyper-variable region (HVR). The present study describes the extent of genetic polymorphism and natural selection at domain I of the ama1 gene among Indian P. falciparum isolates.

Methods

The part of the ama1 gene covering domain I was PCR amplified and sequenced from 157 P. falciparum isolates collected from five different geographical regions of India. Statistical and phylogenetic analyses of the sequences were done using DnaSP ver. 4. 10. 9 and MEGA version 3.0 packages.

Results

A total of 57 AMA1 haplotypes were observ

SUBMITTER: Garg S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2211494 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature