Genetic variability and natural selection at the ligand domain of the Duffy binding protein in Brazilian Plasmodium vivax populations.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Plasmodium vivax malaria is a major public health challenge in Latin America, Asia and Oceania, with 130-435 million clinical cases per year worldwide. Invasion of host blood cells by P. vivax mainly depends on a type I membrane protein called Duffy binding protein (PvDBP). The erythrocyte-binding motif of PvDBP is a 170 amino-acid stretch located in its cysteine-rich region II (PvDBPII), which is the most variable segment of the protein.

Methods

To test whether diversifying natural selection has shaped the nucleotide diversity of PvDBPII in Brazilian populations, this region was sequenced in 122 isolates from six different geographic areas. A Bayesian method was applied to test for the action of natural selection under a population genetic model that incorporates

SUBMITTER: Sousa TN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3003673 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature