2022 article

Plasmodium falciparum Genetic Diversity in Coincident Human and Mosquito Hosts

Lapp, Z., Obala, A. A., Abel, L., Rasmussen, D. A., Sumner, K. M., Freedman, E., … Prudhomme-O'Meara, W. (2022, September 8). MBIO.

By: Z. Lapp *, A. Obala *, L. Abel*, D. Rasmussen n, K. Sumner *, E. Freedman *, S. Taylor *, W. Prudhomme-O'Meara*

author keywords: malaria; Plasmodium falciparum; transmission; comparative genomics; genetic diversity
MeSH headings : Animals; Humans; Culicidae / parasitology; Genetic Variation; Longitudinal Studies; Malaria, Falciparum / parasitology; Plasmodium falciparum / genetics
TL;DR: The overall and sample-level parasite populations were more diverse in mosquitoes than in humans, and haplotype prevalences were more even in the P. falciparum human population than in the mosquito population, consistent with balancing selection occurring at these loci in humans. (via Semantic Scholar)
UN Sustainable Development Goal Categories
Source: Web Of Science
Added: September 26, 2022

Plasmodium falciparum is the deadliest human malaria parasite, and infections consisting of concurrent, multiple strains are common in regions of high endemicity. During transitions within and between the parasite’s mosquito and human hosts, these strains are subject to population bottlenecks, and distinct parasite strains may have differential fitness in the various environments encountered.