Plasmodium knowlesi – clinical isolate genome sequencing to inform translational same-species model system for severe malaria
Abstract
Malaria is responsible for unacceptably high morbidity and mortality, especially in Sub-Saharan African Nations. Malaria is caused by member species’ of the genus Plasmodium and despite concerted and at times valiant efforts, the underlying pathophysiological processes leading to severe disease are poorly understood. Here we describe zoonotic malaria caused by Plasmodium knowlesi and the utility of this parasite as a model system for severe malaria. We present a method to generate long-read third-generation Plasmodium genome sequence data from archived clinical samples using the MinION platform. The method and technology are accessible, affordable and data is generated in real-time. We propose that by widely adopting this methodology important information on clinically relevant parasite diversity, including multiple gene family members, from geographically distinct study sites will emerge. Our goal, over time, is to exploit the duality of P. knowlesi as a well-used laboratory model and human pathogen to develop a representative translational model system for severe malaria that is informed by clinically relevant parasite diversity.
Citation
Oresegun , D R , Daneshvar , C & Cox-Singh , J 2021 , ' Plasmodium knowlesi – clinical isolate genome sequencing to inform translational same-species model system for severe malaria ' , Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology , vol. 11 , 607686 . https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2021.607686
Publication
Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
2235-2988Type
Journal article
Description
DRO is supported by the Wellcome Trust ISSF award 204821/Z/16/Z. Bioinformatics and computational biology analyses were supported by the University of St Andrews Bioinformatics Unit (AMD3BIOINF), funded by Wellcome Trust ISSF award 105621/Z/14/Z. The sample BioBank was compiled with informed consent (Medial Research Council, www.mrc.ac.uk, grant G0801971). Genome sequencing was supported by Tenovus Scotland (T16/03).Collections
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