AUTHOR=Brashear Awtum M. , Huckaby Adam C. , Fan Qi , Dillard Luke J. , Hu Yubing , Li Yuling , Zhao Yan , Wang Zenglei , Cao Yaming , Miao Jun , Guler Jennifer L. , Cui Liwang 

TITLE=New Plasmodium vivax Genomes From the China-Myanmar Border

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.01930

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2020.01930

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Plasmodium vivax</italic> is increasingly the dominant species of malaria in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), which is pursuing regional malaria elimination. <italic>P. vivax</italic> lineages in the GMS are poorly characterized. Currently, <italic>P. vivax</italic> reference genomes are scarce due to difficulties in culturing the parasite and lack of high-quality samples. In addition, <italic>P. vivax</italic> is incredibly diverse, necessitating the procurement of reference genomes from different geographical regions. Here we present four new <italic>P. vivax</italic> draft genomes assembled <italic>de novo</italic> from clinical samples collected in the China-Myanmar border area. We demonstrate comparable length and content to existing genomes, with the majority of structural variation occurring around subtelomeric regions and exported proteins, which we corroborated with detection of copy number variations in these regions. We predicted peptides from all <italic>PIR</italic> gene subfamilies, except for <italic>PIR</italic> D. We confirmed that proteins classically labeled as <italic>PIR</italic> D family members are not identifiable by PIR motifs, and actually bear stronger resemblance to DUF (domain of unknown function) family DUF3671, potentially pointing to a new, closely related gene family. Further, phylogenetic analyses of <italic>MSP7</italic> genes showed high variability within the <italic>MSP7-B</italic> family compared to <italic>MSP7-A</italic> and <italic>-C</italic> families, and the result was comparable to that from whole genome analyses. The new genome assemblies serve as a resource for studying <italic>P. vivax</italic> within the GMS.</p>