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Malaria Genetics & Genomics |
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There are four species of malaria parasite that infect humans: Plasmodium falciparum, P. vivax, P. malariae, and P. ovale. P. falciparum causes the highest mortality, although P. vivax is the most prevalent. Although rarely fatal, this parasite causes debilitating disease that impairs the quality of life and economic productivity. Little is known concerning the basic biological processes of the P. vivax parasite, in part because of the lack of a widely practical method for in vitro culture. However, various strains exist that can be maintained in laboratory chimpanzees and monkeys (WHO P. vivax List), and transmitted experimentally through Anopheles mosquitoes. More information can be found in Ref 1. P. vivax parasites have a similar life-cycle to the three other species of human malaria. Notable differences include a preference for reticulocytes, and the presence of persistent liver forms, hypnozoites, which can cause relapses weeks after an initial infection. Like P. falciparum and P. ovale, human infections are synchronous with a periodicity of 48 hours. Refer to Ref. 2 for details of the life-histories of the four species. (View P. vivax parasite smear) The P. vivax genome P. vivax chromosomes can be separated by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (karyotype). The genome has an A/T content of approximately 55%, much less compared to that of P. falciparum at 80%. Synteny between the Species of Human Malaria Similar to other non-human species of malaria parasite, the four human
malaria species are predicted to have around 14 chromosomes, which are
polymorphic between species. Despite this genome plasticity, the chromosome
location of at least some genes (synteny)
between the four species appears to be conserved References 1. Collins W.E. Major animal models in malaria research: simian. In Wernsdorfer W.H., McGregor I, editors. Malaria, principles and practice of malariology, Vol. 2. Edinburgh (UK): Churchill Livingstone; 1988. p.1473-1501. 2 Garnham PCC. Malaria parasites of man: life-cycles and morphology (excluding ultrastructure). In: Wernsdorfer WH, McGregor I, editors. Malaria: principles and practice of malariology. Churchill Livingstone; 1988. p. 61-96. 3. Carlton JM, Galinski MR, Barnwell JW, Dame JB. Karyotype and synteny among the chromosomes of all four species of human malaria parasite. Mol Biochem Parasitol 1999 Jun 25; 101(1-2): 23-32. PubMed Revised: February 24, 2003 |