A PCR-Based Technique to Track the Geographic Origin of Plasmodium falciparum With 23-SNP Barcode Analysis

Fengyue Hu; Qicheng Zou; Yinyue Li; Guoding Zhu; Huayun Zhou; Meihua Zhang; Fang Tian; Yaobao Liu; Feng Lu

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2021.649170

A PCR-Based Technique to Track the Geographic Origin of Plasmodium falciparum With 23-SNP Barcode Analysis

Front Public Health. 2021 Apr 16:9:649170. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.649170. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Fengyue Hu¹, Qicheng Zou¹, Yinyue Li¹, Guoding Zhu^{2

3}, Huayun Zhou^{2

3}, Meihua Zhang^{2

3}, Fang Tian¹, Yaobao Liu^{2

3}, Feng Lu^{1

4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Experimental and Translational Non-coding RNA Research, School of Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China.
² National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Parasitic Disease Control and Prevention, Jiangsu Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Wuxi, China.
³ Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory on Parasite and Vector Control Technology, Jiangsu Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Wuxi, China.
⁴ Department of Clinical Laboratory, Affiliated Hospital of Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China.
⁵ Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Zoonosis, Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, China.

Abstract

Increased population movement has increased the risk of reintroducing parasites to elimination areas and also dispersing drug-resistant parasites to new regions. Therefore, reliable and repeatable methods to trace back to the source of imported infections are essential. The recently developed 23-single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) barcode from organellar genomes of mitochondrion (mt) and apicoplast (apico) provides a valuable tool to locate the geographic origin of Plasmodium falciparum. This study aims to explore the feasibility of using the 23-SNP barcode for tracking P. falciparum by polymerase chain reaction and sequencing, while providing geographical haplotypes of isolates that originated from Central Africa. Based on 23-SNP barcode analysis, SNPs were found at seven loci; 27 isolates were confirmed to have originated in West Africa, and this study also showed four isolates from Central Africa (Equatorial Guinea, 3; Republic of Congo, 1) that originated in East Africa. This study provides the sequence data from Central Africa and fills 23-SNP barcode data gaps of sample origins.

Keywords: Plasmodium falciparum; SNP; apicoplast; barcode; mitochondrion.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Africa, Eastern
Africa, Western
Congo
Equatorial Guinea
Plasmodium falciparum* / genetics
Polymerase Chain Reaction