The genome of the malaria parasite is decoded

In a study aimed at understanding a global epidemic, a group of scientists from many parts of the world decoded the parasite's gene causing 40% of the world's 515 million infections annually. gender. The study was published in the October 9 issue of Nature.

Blood infects Plasmodium vivax malaria parasite. 4 infected blood cells are bright purple in contrast to the uninfected gray cells. (Photo: Drs. JoAnn Sullivan and William Collins, Department of Parasitic Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

Under the direction of parasite researcher Dr. Jane Carlton of the Langone NYU Medical Center, about 40 researchers decoded Plasmodium vivax (P. vivax) genome. One of the 4 types of malaria parasites is regularly infected in humans. P. vivax, the resistance to this parasite's antimalarial drug is increasing, being the most common species outside the Americas, especially Asia and the Americas, including the United States, where it explodes. periodic epidemics,

Malaria Vivax is thought to be more resilient and recover faster than its relatives, a more dangerous malaria parasite, P. falciparum - and therefore harder to kill. Vivax malaria can spread through mosquitoes at low temperatures. This parasite also has a dormant state that allows it to reappear when the climate is warm, causing the disease to "recur" after months or even years.

Symptoms of the two types of malaria are similar - there is flu, fever and abdominal pain, which often causes severe anemia, and a decline in learning ability in children. Malaria is a disease of the poor class and the cause of death for millions of people every year.

The researchers also identified some pathways in P. vivax parasites that could become therapeutic targets. Both P. vivax and P. falciparum vivax are being studied to find potential vaccine targets.

The fact that P. vivax has long not been thoroughly studied and studied makes this study more meaningful. That distraction is mainly due to the focus on the more dangerous P. falciparum malaria - P. vivax is usually not fatal - and because P. vivax cannot be grown in a laboratory. In addition, the burden of vivax malaria will complicate efforts to control P. falciparum in areas where both types of malaria occur.

Blood infects Plasmodium vivax malaria parasite.4 infected blood cells are bright purple in contrast to the uninfected gray cells.(Photo: Drs. JoAnn Sullivan and William Collins, Department of Parasitic Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

The project led to the genome decoding of P. vivax which was a research project for 6 years, with the participation of researchers from the United Kingdom, Spain, and Australia. Brazil and the United States. After two years, funding from the P. falciparum genome project has been exhausted, the project could be completed thanks to funding from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund and the National Institutes of Health.

P. vivax is the second malaria parasite to be decoded. The researchers discovered the genome of P. vivax differently from the previously decoded parasite genome - different in nature, structure and complexity. They used the shotgun method to produce high quality images that allowed malaria researchers worldwide to conduct further research on this parasite. The next step is to decode six other P. vivax genomes - from Brazil, Mauritania, India, North Korea and Indonesia - to search for new vaccines and build an evolutionary scheme for this organism.

Jane M. Carlton, professor at the Department of Parasitic Medicine at NYU School of Medicine, said: 'The project is a result of the perseverance of the malaria research community. They persistently research despite financial hardship and lack of interest to achieve invaluable results. The project's findings will be used by malaria researchers for years to continue to promote research on this forgotten organism. '

Dr. Claire Fraser-Liggett, director of the Institute of Genetic Sciences at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, president of the Institute of Genetic Studies, Rockville Maryland, where the project was launched, said: 'Genetic data It has been pseudocode that will accelerate the process of identifying and developing new vaccines and therapies to deal with malaria, a major source of human disease. Dr. Carlton deserves to be congratulated as a director and to complete research '.

Dr. Nick White, professor of tropical medicine at Oxford University, England and Mahidol University, Thailand, said: 'Plasmodium vivax genome decoding is a great advance - an important step in birth. studying parasites and in the fight against malaria '.

Refer:
1. Carlton et al.Comparative genomics of neglected human malaria parasite Plasmodium vivax.Nature, 2008;455 (7214): 757 DOI: 10.1038 / nature07327