1.Genetic diversity of Duffy binding protein 2 region II of Plasmodium cynomolgi from wild macaques in Peninsular Malaysia
Latif, E.N.M. ; Shahari, S. ; Amir, A. ; Cheong, F.W. ; Lau, Y.L. ; Abdullah, M.L. ; Fong, M.Y.
Tropical Biomedicine 2022;39(No.1):66-72
Recent reports of natural human infection by Plasmodium cynomolgi indicate the increased
risk of zoonotic transmission by this simian parasite. The P. cynomolgi Duffy binding protein
2 (PcDBP2) has a potential role in the invasion pathway of host erythrocytes, and it is a
possible vaccine candidate against cynomolgi malaria. This study investigates the genetic
diversity, haplotypes, and natural selection of PcDBP2 region II from isolates collected from
wild macaques in Peninsular Malaysia. Blood samples from 50 P. cynomolgi-infected wild
macaques were used in the study. Genomic DNA extracted from the blood samples was used
as template for PCR amplification of the PcDBP2 region II. The amplicons were cloned into a
plasmid vector and sequenced. MEGA X and DnaSP ver.6.12.03 programmes were used to
analyse the DNA sequences. A genealogical relationship of PcDBP2 region II were determined
using haplotype network tree on NETWORK ver.10.2. Result showed high genetic diversity (ð
= 0.017 ± 0.002; Hd = 1.000 ± 0.001) of the PcDBP2 region II. The Z-test indicates a purifying
selection, with population expansion as shown in Tajima’s D analysis. A total of 146
haplotypes of PcDBP2 region II were observed. Phylogenetic tree analysis showed that these
haplotypes were grouped into three allelic types (136 for Strain B type, 9 for Berok type, and
1 recombinant type). In the haplotype network, PcDBP2 region II revealed no geographical
groupings but was divided into two distinct clusters.