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Random mating in a natural population of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

H. A. Babiker ,
L. C. Ranford-Cartwright ,
D. Currie ,
J. D. Charlwood ,
P. Billingsley ,
T. Teuscher  and
D. Walliker
H. A. Babiker
Affiliation:
Institute of Cell, Animal and Population Biology, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK
L. C. Ranford-Cartwright
Affiliation:
Institute of Cell, Animal and Population Biology, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK
D. Currie
Affiliation:
Institute of Cell, Animal and Population Biology, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK
J. D. Charlwood
Affiliation:
National Institute for Medical Research, Ifakara Centre, Box 53, Ifakara, Tanzania
P. Billingsley
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Imperial College, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2BB, UK
T. Teuscher
Affiliation:
National Institute for Medical Research, Ifakara Centre, Box 53, Ifakara, Tanzania
D. Walliker
Affiliation:
Institute of Cell, Animal and Population Biology, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK
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Summary

The genetic structure of a population of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum has been examined in a village in Tanzania. Seventeen alleles of the merozoite surface protein MSP-1 and 23 of MSP-2 were detected by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) among the blood parasites of the inhabitants. Most infections contained mixtures of genetically distinct parasite clones. PCR was then used to examine individual P. falciparum oocysts, the products of fertilization events, in wild-caught mosquitoes. Forty-five out of 71 oocysts were heterozygous for one or both genes, showing that crossing between clones was taking place frequently, following uptake of mixtures of gametocytes by the mosquitoes. The frequency of heterozygous forms showed that random mating events probably occurred within mosquito bloodmeals between gametes belonging to different parasite clones.

Keywords

cross-fertilizationPlasmodium falciparummalariaoocysts
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 109 , Issue 4 , November 1994 , pp. 413 - 421
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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