A PCR-Based Technique to Track the Geographic Origin of Plasmodium falciparum With 23-SNP Barcode Analysis

Increased population movement has increased the risk of reintroducing parasites to elimination areas and also dispersing drug-resistant parasites to new regions. Therefore, reliable and repeatable methods to trace back to the source of imported infections are essential. The recently developed 23-single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) barcode from organellar genomes of mitochondrion ( mt ) and apicoplast ( apico ) provides a valuable tool to locate the geographic origin of Plasmodium falciparum . This study aims to explore the feasibility of using the 23-SNP barcode for tracking P. falciparum by polymerase chain reaction and sequencing, while providing geographical haplotypes of isolates that originated from Central Africa. Based on 23-SNP barcode analysis, SNPs were found at seven loci; 27 isolates were confirmed to have originated in West Africa, and this study also showed four isolates from Central Africa (Equatorial Guinea, 3; Republic of Congo, 1) that originated in East Africa. This study provides the sequence data from Central Africa and fills 23-SNP barcode data gaps of sample origins

Barcode · Biology · DNA barcoding · Evolutionary biology · Gene · Genome · Genotype · Haplotype · Malaria · Plasmodium falciparum · Population · Single-nucleotide polymorphism · SNP · Whole genome sequencing · Malaria Research and Control · Medicine · Vibrio bacteria research studies · Yersinia bacterium, plague, ectoparasites research · Genetics