Genomic analysis informs malaria evolution
Abstract
Detailed comparisons of DNA sequences shared between individuals or groups can allow the inference of relatedness among current members of a species and estimate when they may have been part of the same interbreeding population. These approaches have been applied intensively to humans, and they support a detailed model of the origins and relatedness of humans, joining the threads of our common evolutionary history (1). On page 813 of this issue, Amambua-Ngwa et al. (2) apply these powerful population genetics techniques to several thousand genomes of Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest malaria parasite, from a wide range of sites in 15 African countries. Their findings update the evolutionary history of this African parasite and enhance the foundation on which to examine recent selection pressures on local populations. Moreover, they identify genomic signatures that indicate recent selection by current antimalarial drugs.
- Publication:
-
Science
- Pub Date:
- August 2019
- DOI:
- 10.1126/science.aay0988
- Bibcode:
- 2019Sci...365..752S