Browsing by Author "Thwai, K."
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Item The impact of antimalarial resistance on the genetic structure of Plasmodium falciparum in the DRC(Nature Communications, 2020-04-30) Ghansah, A.; Verity, R.; Aydemir, O.; Brazeau, N.F.; Watson, O.J.; Hathaway, N.J.; Mwandagalirwa, M.K.; Marsh, P.W.; Thwai, K.; Fulton, T.; Denton, M.; Morgan, A.P.; Parr, J.B.; Tumwebaze, P.K.; Conrad, M.; Rosenthal, P.J.; Ishengoma, D.S.; Ngondi, J.; Gutman, J.; Mulenga, M.; Norris, D.E.; Moss, W.J.; Mensah, B.A.; Myers-Hansen, J.L.; Tshefu, A.K.; Ghani, A.C.; Meshnick, S.R.; Bailey, J.A.; Juliano, J.J.The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) harbors 11% of global malaria cases, yet little is known about the spatial and genetic structure of the parasite population in that country. We sequence 2537 Plasmodium falciparum infections, including a nationally representative population sample from DRC and samples from surrounding countries, using molecular inversion probes - a high-throughput genotyping tool. We identify an east-west divide in haplotypes known to confer resistance to chloroquine and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine. Furthermore, we identify highly related parasites over large geographic distances, indicative of gene flow and migration. Our results are consistent with a background of isolation by distance combined with the effects of selection for antimalarial drug resistance. This study provides a high-resolution view of parasite genetic structure across a large country in Africa and provides a baseline to study how implementation programs may impact parasite populations.