Genomic Analysis Reveals a Common Breakpoint in Amplifications of the Plasmodium vivax Multidrug Resistance 1 Locus in Thailand.

ABSTRACT: In regions of coendemicity for Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax where mefloquine is used to treat P. falciparum infection, drug pressure mediated by increased copy numbers of the multidrug resistance 1 gene (pvmdr1) may select for mefloquine-resistant P. vivax Surveillance is not undertaken routinely owing in part to methodological challenges in detection of gene amplification. Using genomic data on 88 P. vivax samples from western Thailand, we identified pvmdr1 amplification in 17 isolates, all exhibiting tandem copies of a 37.6-kilobase pair region with identical breakpoints. A novel breakpoint-specific polymerase chain reaction assay was designed to detect the amplification. The assay demonstrated high sensitivity, identifying amplifications in 13 additional, polyclonal infect

SUBMITTER: Auburn S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5034950 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature