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The impact of antimalarial resistance on the genetic structure of Plasmodium falciparum in the DRC
Verity, R., Aydemir, O., Brazeau, N. F., Watson, O. J., Hathaway, N. J., Mwandagalirwa, M. K., Marsh, P. W., Thwai, K., Fulton, T., Denton, M., Morgan, A. P., Parr, J. B., Tumwebaze, P. K., Conrad, M., Rosenthal, P. J., Ishengoma, D. S., Ngondi, J., Gutman, J., Mulenga, M., ... Juliano, J. J. (2020). The impact of antimalarial resistance on the genetic structure of Plasmodium falciparum in the DRC. Nature Communications, 11(1), Article 2107. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15779-8
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) harbors 11% of global malaria cases, yet little is known about the spatial and genetic structure of the parasite population in that country. We sequence 2537 Plasmodium falciparum infections, including a nationally representative population sample from DRC and samples from surrounding countries, using molecular inversion probes - a high-throughput genotyping tool. We identify an east-west divide in haplotypes known to confer resistance to chloroquine and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine. Furthermore, we identify highly related parasites over large geographic distances, indicative of gene flow and migration. Our results are consistent with a background of isolation by distance combined with the effects of selection for antimalarial drug resistance. This study provides a high-resolution view of parasite genetic structure across a large country in Africa and provides a baseline to study how implementation programs may impact parasite populations. The genome of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum contains a record of past evolutionary forces. Here, using 2537 parasite sequences from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the authors demonstrate how drug pressure and human movement have shaped the present-day parasite population.
