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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Parasite and Host
Volume 14 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2024.1405198

Genetic Diversity of Plasmodium malariae in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Two-Marker Genotyping Approach for Molecular Epidemiological Studies

Provisionally accepted
Miriam Rodi Miriam Rodi 1Katarzyna Kawecka Katarzyna Kawecka 1Laura Stephan Laura Stephan 1Lilith Berner Lilith Berner 1Martha Salinas Medina Martha Salinas Medina 1Albert Lalremruata Albert Lalremruata 1Tamirat Gebru Woldearegai Tamirat Gebru Woldearegai 1Pierre Blaise Matsiegui Pierre Blaise Matsiegui 2Mirjam Groger Mirjam Groger 3Rella Zoleko Manego Rella Zoleko Manego 4Dorothea Ekoka Mbassi Dorothea Ekoka Mbassi 3Ghyslain Mombo-Ngoma Ghyslain Mombo-Ngoma 4Selidji Todagbe Agnandji Selidji Todagbe Agnandji 4Michael Ramharter Michael Ramharter 3Benjamin Mordmüller Benjamin Mordmüller 5Juliana Inoue Juliana Inoue 1Jana Held Jana Held 1*
  • 1 University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
  • 2 Centre de Recherches Médicales de la Ngounié, Fougamou, Gabon
  • 3 Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM), Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
  • 4 Centre de Recherche Médicales de Lambaréné, Lambaréné, Gabon
  • 5 Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, Gelderland, Netherlands

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Plasmodium malariae is the most common non-falciparum species in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite this, data on its genetic diversity is scarce. Therefore, we aimed to establish a P. malariae genotyping approach based on size polymorphic regions that can be easily applied in molecular epidemiological studies.Four potential genotyping markers, Pm02, Pm09, P. malariae thrombospondin-related anonymous protein (pmtrap), and P. malariae merozoite surface protein fragment 2 (pmmsp1 F2) were amplified via nested PCR and analysed using automated capillary gel electrophoresis.We observed the highest allelic diversity for pmtrap (MOI = 1.61) and pmmsp1 F2 (He = 0.81). Further applying the two markers pmtrap and pmmsp1 F2 on a different sample set of 21 P. malariae positive individuals followed up over one week, we saw a high consistency in their performance. The results show a large complexity and high dynamics of P. malariae infections in the asymptomatic Gabonese study population.We successfully implemented a new genotyping panel for P. malariae consisting of only two markers: pmtrap and pmmsp1 F2. It can be easily applied in other settings to investigate the genotype diversity of P. malariae populations, providing further important data on the molecular epidemiology of this parasite species.

    Keywords: Plasmodium malariae, genotyping, Size polymorphism, pmtrap, pmmsp1 F2

    Received: 22 Mar 2024; Accepted: 09 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Rodi, Kawecka, Stephan, Berner, Salinas Medina, Lalremruata, Woldearegai, Blaise Matsiegui, Groger, Zoleko Manego, Ekoka Mbassi, Mombo-Ngoma, Agnandji, Ramharter, Mordmüller, Inoue and Held. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jana Held, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, 72074, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

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