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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 71(3), 2004, pp. 285-289
Copyright © 2004 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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GENETIC DIVERSITY IN THE MEROZOITE SURFACE PROTEIN 1 GENE OF PLASMODIUM FALCIPARUM IN DIFFERENT MALARIA-ENDEMIC LOCALITIES

DIPAK KUMAR RAJ, BIBHU RANJAN DAS, A. P. DASH, AND PRAKASH C. SUPAKAR
Institute of Life Sciences, Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar, India

A number of stage-specific antigens have been characterized for vaccine development in Plasmodium falciparum malaria. The polymorphic merozoite surface protein 1 (MSP-1) of Plasmodium falciparum is a major asexual blood stage malaria vaccine candidate antigen. In the present study, we analyzed the impact of hyperendemic malaria transmission, mesoendemic malaria transmission, and multiple infection on allelic diversity. We have used a simple strategy of polymerase chain reaction amplification and slot-blot hybridization to analyze variable regions of block-2, block-4 and blocks 6–10 of the MSP-1 gene. The allelic types of isolates collected from regions of hyperendemic malaria transmission (RHEMT) and mesoendemic malaria transmission (RMEMT) were compared. In RHEMT, 20 of 24 possible gene types were found among 163 isolates and more than one allelic type was found in 82 (50.3%) of the isolates. Thirteen of 24 possible gene types were found among 125 isolates in RMEMT and 27 (21.6%) of them contained more than one allele type. Our results suggest for the first time that the allelic distribution or allelic diversity and chances of finding multi-strain parasites in isolates in an area vary with the rate of transmission. Analyses of isolates containing more than one strain of parasite suggest that allelic types are randomly distributed, no specific type of alleles predominately show multi-strain infection, and neither strain of the parasite affect the process of infection and development of another.

Received September 16, 2003. Accepted for publication February 24, 2004.

Acknowledgments: Administrative and initial technical help in sample collection from Dr. R. C. Sethi and M. M. Rout are gratefully acknowledged. We sincerely thank Dr. B. Ravindran for critically reading the manuscript.

Financial support: This work was supported by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India. Dipak Kumar Raj was supported by a Research Fellowship from the University Grant Commission, Government of India.

Authors’ addresses: Dipak Kumar Raj, A. P. Dash, and Prakash C. Supakar, Institute of Life Sciences Nalco Square, Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar 751 023, India, Telephone: 91-674-230-0137 or 230-1476, Fax: 91-674-230-0728, E-mail: pcsupakar{at}hotmail.com. Bibhu Ranjan Das, Research and Development Division, Sisco Research Laboratories-Ranbaxy, Limited, Clinical Reference Laboratories, Mumbai 400 093, India.






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Copyright © 2004 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.