AUTHOR=Hu Fengyue , Zou Qicheng , Li Yinyue , Zhu Guoding , Zhou Huayun , Zhang Meihua , Tian Fang , Liu Yaobao , Lu Feng 

TITLE=A PCR-Based Technique to Track the Geographic Origin of Plasmodium falciparum With 23-SNP Barcode Analysis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.649170

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2021.649170

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=<p>Increased population movement has increased the risk of reintroducing parasites to elimination areas and also dispersing drug-resistant parasites to new regions. Therefore, reliable and repeatable methods to trace back to the source of imported infections are essential. The recently developed 23-single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) barcode from organellar genomes of mitochondrion (<italic>mt</italic>) and apicoplast (<italic>apico</italic>) provides a valuable tool to locate the geographic origin of <italic>Plasmodium falciparum</italic>. This study aims to explore the feasibility of using the 23-SNP barcode for tracking <italic>P. falciparum</italic> by polymerase chain reaction and sequencing, while providing geographical haplotypes of isolates that originated from Central Africa. Based on 23-SNP barcode analysis, SNPs were found at seven loci; 27 isolates were confirmed to have originated in West Africa, and this study also showed four isolates from Central Africa (Equatorial Guinea, 3; Republic of Congo, 1) that originated in East Africa. This study provides the sequence data from Central Africa and fills 23-SNP barcode data gaps of sample origins.</p>