AUTHOR=Bourgard Catarina , Albrecht Letusa , Kayano Ana C. A. V. , Sunnerhagen Per , Costa Fabio T. M. 

TITLE=Plasmodium vivax Biology: Insights Provided by Genomics, Transcriptomics and Proteomics

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2018.00034

DOI=10.3389/fcimb.2018.00034

ISSN=2235-2988

ABSTRACT=<p>During the last decade, the vast omics field has revolutionized biological research, especially the genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics branches, as technological tools become available to the field researcher and allow difficult question-driven studies to be addressed. Parasitology has greatly benefited from next generation sequencing (NGS) projects, which have resulted in a broadened comprehension of basic parasite molecular biology, ecology and epidemiology. Malariology is one example where application of this technology has greatly contributed to a better understanding of <italic>Plasmodium</italic> spp. biology and host-parasite interactions. Among the several parasite species that cause human malaria, the neglected <italic>Plasmodium vivax</italic> presents great research challenges, as <italic>in vitro</italic> culturing is not yet feasible and functional assays are heavily limited. Therefore, there are gaps in our <italic>P. vivax</italic> biology knowledge that affect decisions for control policies aiming to eradicate vivax malaria in the near future. In this review, we provide a snapshot of key discoveries already achieved in <italic>P. vivax</italic> sequencing projects, focusing on developments, hurdles, and limitations currently faced by the research community, as well as perspectives on future vivax malaria research.</p>