Malaria Parasite: Humans And Apes Share Same Genes Linked With Malaria's Virulence

In a recent study, researchers explored the origin and genetics of human malaria virulence factors that could aid in basic understanding of the causes of malaria and provide targets for drugs and vaccines, according to a news release.

The malaria parasite molecules have shown to share key gene segments with chimp and gorilla malaria parasites, despite being separated by several millions of years, according to the new study led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

"The evolution of these key virulence determinants doesn't occur in the same way as in other pathogens. Instead of gradually changing by mutation, like the flu virus, these malaria parasites exchange intact gene segments, like shuffling a deck of cards," said senior author of the study, Caroline Buckee, assistant professor of epidemiology at Harvard Chan School.

Over 500,000 people die from malaria each year, most of them are children in Sub-Saharan Africa. Human malaria has severe symptoms such as malarial anemia, pregnancy-associated malaria, and cerebral malaria, which have been linked with the malaria parasite's ability to cause infected red blood cells to bind to the inner lining of blood vessels. The infected cells' ability to follow this approach is key to malaria's virulence, which is linked with certain genes called var genes, according to the study.

By assessing hundreds of var sequence fragments using network analysis, the researchers found that short segments of these genes are shared in many different malaria parasites affecting humans, apes, and chimps. These segments are not recent variations, they are ancient genomic structures, the researchers revealed.

"Astonishingly, we have found the very same shared sequence mosaics in these highly divergent species, implying that these short mosaic sequences, in spite of continual diversification, have an ancient origin," said Buckee.

"The origin of human malaria virulence factors is actually much older than previously thought."

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