Evolution of the Transmission-Blocking Vaccine Candidates Pvs28 and Pvs25 in Plasmodium vivax: Geographic Differentiation and Evidence of Positive Selection.

ABSTRACT: Transmission-blocking (TB) vaccines are considered an important tool for malaria control and elimination. Among all the antigens characterized as TB vaccines against Plasmodium vivax, the ookinete surface proteins Pvs28 and Pvs25 are leading candidates. These proteins likely originated by a gene duplication event that took place before the radiation of the known Plasmodium species to primates. We report an evolutionary genetic analysis of a worldwide sample of pvs28 and pvs25 alleles. Our results show that both genes display low levels of genetic polymorphism when compared to the merozoite surface antigens AMA-1 and MSP-1; however, both ookinete antigens can be as polymorphic as other merozoite antigens such as MSP-8 and MSP-10. We found that parasite populations in Asia and the Americas a

SUBMITTER: Chaurio RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4922550 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature