Evolutionary dynamics of the immunodominant repeats of the Plasmodium vivax malaria-vaccine candidate circumsporozoite protein (CSP).

ABSTRACT: The circumsporozoite protein (CSP) of Plasmodium vivax, a major target for malaria vaccine development, has immunodominant B-cell epitopes mapped to central nonapeptide repeat arrays. To determine whether rearrangements of repeat motifs during mitotic DNA replication of parasites create significant CSP diversity under conditions of low effective meiotic recombination rates, we examined csp alleles from sympatric P. vivax isolates systematically sampled from an area of low malaria endemicity in Brazil over a period of 14 months. Nine unique csp types, comprising six different nonapeptide repeats, were observed in 45 isolates analyzed. Identical or nearly identical repeats predominated in most arrays, consistent with their recent expansion. We found strong linkage disequilibrium at sites acr

SUBMITTER: Patil A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2849667 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature