Mitochondrial genome sequence diversity of Indian Plasmodium falciparum isolates

We have analysed the whole mitochondrial (mt) genome sequences (each~6 kilo nucleotide base pairs in length) of four field isolates of the malariaparasite Plasmodium falciparum collected from different locationsin India. Comparative genomic analyses of mt genome sequencesrevealed three novel India-specific single nucleotide polymorphisms. In general, highmt genome diversity was found in Indian P.falciparum, at a level comparable to African isolates. A populationphylogenetic tree placed the presently sequenced Indian P. falciparumwith the global isolates, while a previously sequenced Indian isolate was anoutlier. Although this preliminary study is limited to a few numbers of isolates, thedata have provided fundamental evidence of the mt genome diversityand evolutionary relationships of Indian P. falciparum with that ofglobal isolates.