The Plasmodium berghei RC strain is highly diverged and harbors putatively novel drug resistance variants.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The current first line drugs for treating uncomplicated malaria are artemisinin (ART) combination therapies. However, Plasmodium falciparum parasites resistant to ART and partner drugs are spreading, which threatens malaria control efforts. Rodent malaria species are useful models for understanding antimalarial resistance, in particular genetic variants responsible for cross resistance to different compounds.

Methods

The Plasmodium berghei RC strain (PbRC) is described as resistant to different antimalarials, including chloroquine (CQ) and ART. In an attempt to identify the genetic basis for the antimalarial resistance trait in PbRC, its genome was sequenced and compared with five other previously sequenced P. berghei strains.

SUBMITTER: Songsungthong W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5632537 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature