Population biology of two newly identified species of human malaria parasite
Project type
Honours and/or PhD
| Supervisor(s) | Division | |
| (Primary) | Infection and Immunity | .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) |
Dr Celine Barnadas (Co-supervisor) |
Infection and Immunity | .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) |
Details of project
In the context of a global push towards malaria elimination, and of particular relevance to the Asia-Pacific region, understanding the population structure of the non-falciparum parasites and mixed-species infections, and thus being able to monitor the impact of large-scale intervention upon this, is an increasingly urgent knowledge gap.
Plasmodium ovale (Stevens, 1922) is one of the four globally distributed parasite species attributed with causing human malaria, but is probably the least understood. A recent study estimated, by analysis of approximately 40,000 imported malaria cases in the UK with species-level discrimination performed at the UK Malaria Reference Laboratory (UKMRL), that P. ovale was the sole causative organism of 9 per cent of febrile malaria cases coming from sub-Saharan Africa. The burden of disease caused by this organism is therefore likely to be much greater than previously thought. Furthermore, our collaborators at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (UK) have recently demonstrated that the two forms of P. ovale (curtisi and wallikeri) comprise distinct species which contribute approximately equally to imported ovale malaria cases in the UK, and that both are present in sympatry across a broad geographical range in Asia and Africa (1,2).
The overall aim of this project is to investigate the population genetics of these two related species is to gain understanding of how P. ovale curtisi (PoC) and P. ovale wallikeri (PoW) circulate among human hosts in sympatry without recombining and to understand their transmission as individual species. The project will involve mining the PoC genome for regions of potential hypervariability, developing assays to determine whether the regions are polymorphic in PoC and also testing on PoW isolates to determine whether they can be used for both species. Once a suitable set of markers is developed and validated, they will be used to define the population genetics of PoC and PoW in Africa, Asia and PNG. The results will help us to understand the ecology and population biology of these two species worldwide and will have important implications for malaria control programs.
Project references
- Oguike MC et al. Plasmodium ovale curtisi and Plasmodium ovale wallikeri circulate simultaneously in African communities. Int J Parasitol. 2011 41(6):677-83. PMID: 21315074
- Sutherland CJ et al. Two nonrecombining sympatric forms of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium ovale occur globally. J Infect Dis. 2010 201(10):1544-50. PMID: 20380562
Research interests
Malaria is an infectious disease that causes significant morbidity and mortality throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The disease is caused by infection with protozoan parasites of the Plasmodium genus via the bite of an infected anopheline mosquito.
One of the major obstacles to controlling and eliminating malaria is a lack of understanding of the diversity and organization of natural malaria parasite populations. Our research focuses on defining the population structure of Plasmodium spp. to reveal insights into disease transmission and naturally acquired immunity to malaria.
We employ a multidisciplinary approach including epidemiology, genomics, population genetics, immunology and bioinformatics. Most of our research is concentrated in the Asia Pacific, where we have strong collaborative links with researchers conducting large epidemiological surveys.
Research theme
Infectious diseases
Scientific discipline
- Genetics
- Genomics
- Microbiology
Keywords
Malaria, plasmodium ovale, molecular ecology, epidemiology, population genetics, microsatellites,