Genetic diversity of Plasmodium vivax populations from the China-Myanmar border identified by genotyping merozoite surface protein markers

Xun Wang; Yao Bai; Zheng Xiang; Weilin Zeng; Yanrui Wu; Hui Zhao; Wei Zhao; Xi Chen; Mengxi Duan; Xiaosong Li; Wenya Zhu; Kemin Sun; Yiman Wu; Yanmei Zhang; Xiaomei Li; Benjamin M Rosenthal; Liwang Cui; Zhaoqing Yang

doi:10.1186/s41182-022-00492-7

Genetic diversity of Plasmodium vivax populations from the China-Myanmar border identified by genotyping merozoite surface protein markers

Trop Med Health. 2023 Jan 11;51(1):2. doi: 10.1186/s41182-022-00492-7.

Authors

Xun Wang^#¹, Yao Bai^#¹, Zheng Xiang^#¹, Weilin Zeng¹, Yanrui Wu², Hui Zhao¹, Wei Zhao¹, Xi Chen¹, Mengxi Duan¹, Xiaosong Li¹, Wenya Zhu¹, Kemin Sun¹, Yiman Wu¹, Yanmei Zhang¹, Xiaomei Li³, Benjamin M Rosenthal⁴, Liwang Cui⁵, Zhaoqing Yang⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathogen Biology and Immunology, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, 650500, Yunnan, China.
² Department of Cell Biology and Genetics, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China.
³ Faculty of Public Health, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan Province, China.
⁴ Animal Parasitic Disease Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, US Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD, USA.
⁵ Department of Internal Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, 33612, USA. liwangci@usf.edu.
⁶ Department of Pathogen Biology and Immunology, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, 650500, Yunnan, China. zhaoqingy92@hotmail.com.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: Parasite diversity and population structure influence malaria control measures. Malaria transmission at international borders affects indigenous residents and migrants, defying management efforts and resulting in malaria re-introduction. Here we aimed to determine the extent and distribution of genetic variations in Plasmodium vivax populations and the complexity of infections along the China-Myanmar border.

Methods: We collected clinical P. vivax samples from local and migrant malaria patients from Laiza and Myitsone, Kachin State, Myanmar, respectively. We characterized the polymorphisms in two P. vivax merozoite surface protein markers, Pvmsp-3α and Pvmsp-3β, by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis. We sought to determine whether these genetic markers could differentiate these two neighboring parasite populations.

Results: PCR revealed three major size variants for Pvmsp-3α and four for Pvmsp-3β among the 370 and 378 samples, respectively. PCR-RFLP resolved 26 fragment-size alleles by digesting Pvmsp-3α with Alu I and Hha I and 28 alleles by digesting Pvmsp-3β with Pst I. PCR-RFLP analysis of Pvmsp-3α found that infections in migrant laborers from Myitsone bore more alleles than did infections in residents of Laiza, while such difference was not evident from genotyping Pvmsp-3β. Infections originating from these two places contained distinct but overlapping subpopulations of P. vivax. Infections from Myitsone had a higher multiplicity of infection as judged by the size of the Pvmsp-3α amplicons and alleles after Alu I/Hha I digestion.

Conclusions: Migrant laborers from Myitsone and indigenous residents from Laiza harbored overlapping but genetically distinct P. vivax parasite populations. The results suggested a more diverse P. vivax population in Myitsone than in the border town of Laiza. PCR-RFLP of Pvmsp-3α offers a convenient method to determine the complexity of P. vivax infections and differentiate parasite populations.

Keywords: Genotyping; Merozoite surface protein; Mixed-strain infection; Multiplicity of infection; Plasmodium vivax; Population differentiation.

Abstract

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