Journal article
Genome-wide patterns of genetic polymorphism and signatures of selection in Plasmodium vivax
Genome biology and evolution, Vol.7(1), pp.106-119
12/17/2014
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/107298
PMCID: PMC4316620
PMID: 25523904
Abstract
Plasmodium vivax is the most prevalent human malaria parasite outside of Africa. Yet, studies aimed to identify genes with signatures consistent with natural selection are rare. Here, we present a comparative analysis of the pattern of genetic variation of five sequenced isolates of P. vivax and its divergence with two closely related species, Plasmodium cynomolgi and Plasmodium knowlesi, using a set of orthologous genes. In contrast to Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes the most lethal form of human malaria, we did not find significant constraints on the evolution of synonymous sites genome wide in P. vivax. The comparative analysis of polymorphism and divergence across loci allowed us to identify 87 genes with patterns consistent with positive selection, including genes involved in the "exportome" of P. vivax, which are potentially involved in evasion of the host immune system. Nevertheless, we have found a pattern of polymorphism genome wide that is consistent with a significant amount of constraint on the replacement changes and prevalent negative selection. Our analyses also show that silent polymorphism tends to be larger toward the ends of the chromosomes, where many genes involved in antigenicity are located, suggesting that natural selection acts not only by shaping the patterns of variation within the genes but it also affects genome organization.
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Details
- Title
- Genome-wide patterns of genetic polymorphism and signatures of selection in Plasmodium vivax
- Creators
- Omar E Cornejo - School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University ananias.escalante@temple.edu omar.cornejo@wsu.eduDavid Fisher - Center for Evolutionary Medicine and Informatics, the Biodesign Institute, Arizona State UniversityAnanias A Escalante - Center for Evolutionary Medicine and Informatics, the Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University Present address: Institute for Genomics and Evolutionary Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA. ananias.escalante@temple.edu omar.cornejo@wsu.edu
- Publication Details
- Genome biology and evolution, Vol.7(1), pp.106-119
- Academic Unit
- Biological Sciences, School of
- Publisher
- England
- Grant note
- U19 AI089688 / NIAID NIH HHS U19AI089688 / NIAID NIH HHS R01 GM080586 / NIGMS NIH HHS
- Identifiers
- 99900546995501842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article