Genetics of chloroquine-resistant malaria: a haplotypic
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Authors: | Gauri Awasthi Aparup Das |
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Institution: | Evolutionary Genomics and Bioinformatics Laboratory, National Institute of Malaria Research, New Delhi, India, Evolutionary Genomics and Bioinformatics Laboratory , National Institute of Malaria Research , Sector 8, Dwarka, New Delhi , India |
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Abstract: | The development and rapid spread of chloroquine resistance (CQR) in
Plasmodium falciparum have triggered the identification of
several genetic target(s) in the P. falciparum genome. In
particular, mutations in the Pfcrt gene, specifically, K76T and
mutations in three other amino acids in the region adjoining K76 (residues 72, 74, 75
and 76), are considered to be highly related to CQR. These various mutations form
several different haplotypes and Pfcrt gene polymorphisms and the
global distribution of the different CQR- Pfcrt haplotypes in
endemic and non-endemic regions of P. falciparum malaria have been
the subject of extensive study. Despite the fact that the Pfcrt gene
is considered to be the primary CQR gene in P. falciparum , several
studies have suggested that this may not be the case. Furthermore, there is a poor
correlation between the evolutionary implications of the Pfcrt
haplotypes and the inferred migration of CQR P. falciparum based on
CQR epidemiological surveillance data. The present paper aims to clarify the existing
knowledge on the genetic basis of the different CQR- Pfcrt
haplotypes that are prevalent in worldwide populations based on the published
literature and to analyse the data to generate hypotheses on the genetics and
evolution of CQR malaria. |
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Keywords: | malaria chloroquine Pfcrt gene haplotypes evolution |
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