Genetic Diversity of Polymorphic Vaccine Candidate Antigens (Apical Membrane Antigen-1, Merozoite Surface Protein-3, and Erythrocyte Binding Antigen-175) in Plasmodium falciparum Isolates from Western and Central Africa

Issiaka Soulama Centre National de Recherche et de Formation sur le Paludisme, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Department of Biochemistry and the Biotechnology Center, University of Yaounde I, Yaounde, Cameroon; Service de Parasitologie–Mycologie, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal; Department of Parasitology, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana; Centre d'Etudes des Ressources Végétales, Unité de Pharmacologie Brazzaville, Republic of Congo; Malaria Research and Reference Reagent Resource Center, American Type Culture Collection, Manassas, Virginia; Groupe d'Action et de Recherche en Santé, Belgium

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Jude D. Bigoga Centre National de Recherche et de Formation sur le Paludisme, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Department of Biochemistry and the Biotechnology Center, University of Yaounde I, Yaounde, Cameroon; Service de Parasitologie–Mycologie, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal; Department of Parasitology, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana; Centre d'Etudes des Ressources Végétales, Unité de Pharmacologie Brazzaville, Republic of Congo; Malaria Research and Reference Reagent Resource Center, American Type Culture Collection, Manassas, Virginia; Groupe d'Action et de Recherche en Santé, Belgium

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Magatte Ndiaye Centre National de Recherche et de Formation sur le Paludisme, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Department of Biochemistry and the Biotechnology Center, University of Yaounde I, Yaounde, Cameroon; Service de Parasitologie–Mycologie, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal; Department of Parasitology, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana; Centre d'Etudes des Ressources Végétales, Unité de Pharmacologie Brazzaville, Republic of Congo; Malaria Research and Reference Reagent Resource Center, American Type Culture Collection, Manassas, Virginia; Groupe d'Action et de Recherche en Santé, Belgium

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Edith C. Bougouma Centre National de Recherche et de Formation sur le Paludisme, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Department of Biochemistry and the Biotechnology Center, University of Yaounde I, Yaounde, Cameroon; Service de Parasitologie–Mycologie, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal; Department of Parasitology, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana; Centre d'Etudes des Ressources Végétales, Unité de Pharmacologie Brazzaville, Republic of Congo; Malaria Research and Reference Reagent Resource Center, American Type Culture Collection, Manassas, Virginia; Groupe d'Action et de Recherche en Santé, Belgium

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Josephine Quagraine Centre National de Recherche et de Formation sur le Paludisme, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Department of Biochemistry and the Biotechnology Center, University of Yaounde I, Yaounde, Cameroon; Service de Parasitologie–Mycologie, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal; Department of Parasitology, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana; Centre d'Etudes des Ressources Végétales, Unité de Pharmacologie Brazzaville, Republic of Congo; Malaria Research and Reference Reagent Resource Center, American Type Culture Collection, Manassas, Virginia; Groupe d'Action et de Recherche en Santé, Belgium

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Prisca N. Casimiro Centre National de Recherche et de Formation sur le Paludisme, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Department of Biochemistry and the Biotechnology Center, University of Yaounde I, Yaounde, Cameroon; Service de Parasitologie–Mycologie, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal; Department of Parasitology, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana; Centre d'Etudes des Ressources Végétales, Unité de Pharmacologie Brazzaville, Republic of Congo; Malaria Research and Reference Reagent Resource Center, American Type Culture Collection, Manassas, Virginia; Groupe d'Action et de Recherche en Santé, Belgium

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Timothy T. Stedman Centre National de Recherche et de Formation sur le Paludisme, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Department of Biochemistry and the Biotechnology Center, University of Yaounde I, Yaounde, Cameroon; Service de Parasitologie–Mycologie, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal; Department of Parasitology, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana; Centre d'Etudes des Ressources Végétales, Unité de Pharmacologie Brazzaville, Republic of Congo; Malaria Research and Reference Reagent Resource Center, American Type Culture Collection, Manassas, Virginia; Groupe d'Action et de Recherche en Santé, Belgium

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Sodiomon B. Sirima Centre National de Recherche et de Formation sur le Paludisme, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Department of Biochemistry and the Biotechnology Center, University of Yaounde I, Yaounde, Cameroon; Service de Parasitologie–Mycologie, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal; Department of Parasitology, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana; Centre d'Etudes des Ressources Végétales, Unité de Pharmacologie Brazzaville, Republic of Congo; Malaria Research and Reference Reagent Resource Center, American Type Culture Collection, Manassas, Virginia; Groupe d'Action et de Recherche en Santé, Belgium

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The malaria vaccine candidate antigens erythrocyte binding antigen 175 (EBA-175), merozoite surface protein 3 (MSP-3), and apical membrane antigen (AMA-1) from Plasmodium falciparum isolates from countries in central and west Africa were assessed for allelic diversity. Samples were collected on filter paper from 600 P. falciparum-infected symptomatic patients in Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Senegal and screened for class-specific amplification fragments. Genetic diversity, assessed by mean heterozygosity, was comparable among countries. We detected a clinical increase in eba 175 F-allele frequency from west to east across the study region. No statistical difference in msp-3 allele distribution between countries was observed. The ama-1 3D7 alleles were present at a lower frequency in central Africa than in West Africa. We also detected little to no genetic differentiation among sampling locations. This finding indicates that, at least at the level of resolution offered by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, these antigens showed remarkable genetic homogeneity throughout the region sampled, perhaps caused by balancing selection to maintain a diverse array of antigen haplotyes.

Author Notes

*Address correspondence to Issiaka Soulama, Centre National de Recherche et de Formation sur le Paludisme, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. E-mail: a.soulama.cnrfp@fasonet.bf

Financial support: This study was supported by the Division of Microbiology and Infectious Disease, National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, MD) (Contract HHSN266200400016C) awarded to the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana and subcontracted to the Centre National de Recherche et de Formation sur le Paludisme, Burkina Faso.

Authors' addresses: Issiaka Soulama and Edith C. Bougouma, Centre National de Recherche et de Formation sur le Paludisme, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, E-mails: a.soulama.cnrfp@fasonet.bf and eddy.cnrfp@fasonet.bf. Jude D. Bigoga, Department of Biochemistry and the Biotechnology Center, University of Yaounde I, Yaounde, Cameroon, E-mail: jbigoga@gmail.com. Magatte Ndiaye, Service de Parasitologie–Mycologie, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal, E-mail: magou22000@yahoo.fr. Josephine Quagraine, Department of Parasitology Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana, E-mail: Quagraine@noguchi.mimcom.org. Prisca N. Casimiro, Centre d'Etudes des Ressources Végétales, Unité de Pharmacologie, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, E-mail: pncasimiro@yahoo.fr. Timothy T. Stedman, Malaria Research and Reference Reagent Resource Center, American Type Culture Collection, Manassas, VA, E-mail: TStedman@atcc.org. Sodiomon B. Sirima, Centre National de Recherche et de Formation sur le Paludisme, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso and Groupe d'Action et de Recherche en Santé, Belgium, E-mail: s.sirima.cnlp@fasonet.bf.

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