BACKGROUND Recent gains in reducing the global burden of malaria are threatened by the emergence of Plasmodium falciparum resistance to artemisinins. The discovery that mutations in portions of a P. falciparum gene encoding kelch (K13)–propeller domains are the major determinant of resistance has provided opportunities for monitoring such resistance on a global scale. METHODS We analyzed the K13-propeller sequence polymorphism in 14,037 samples collected in 59 countries in which malaria is endemic. Most of the samples (84.5%) were obtained from patients who were treated at sentinel sites used for nationwide surveillance of antimalarial resistance. We evaluated the emergence and dissemination of mutations by haplotyping neighboring loci. RESULTS We identified 108 nonsynonymous K13 mutations, which showed marked geographic disparity in their frequency and distribution. In Asia, 36.5% of the K13 mutations were distributed within two areas — one in Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos and the other in western Thailand, Myanmar, and China — with no overlap. In Africa, we observed a broad array of rare nonsynonymous mutations that were not associated with delayed parasite clearance. The gene-edited Dd2 transgenic line with the A578S mutation, which expresses the most frequently observed African allele, was found to be susceptible to artemisinin in vitro on a ring-stage survival assay. CONCLUSIONS No evidence of artemisinin resistance was found outside Southeast Asia and China, where resistance-associated K13 mutations were confined. The common African A578S allele was not associated with clinical or in vitro resistance to artemisinin, and many African mutations appear to be neutral.

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Deciphering molecular interactions between the malaria parasite and its mosquito vector is an emerging area of research that will be greatly facilitated by the recent sequencing of the genomes of Anopheles gambiae mosquito and of various Plasmodium species. So far, most such studies have focused on Plasmodium berghei, a parasite species that infects rodents and is more amenable to studies. Here, we analysed the expression pattern of nine An.gambiae genes involved in immune surveillance during development of the human malaria parasite P.falciparum in mosquitoes fed on parasite-containing blood from patients in Cameroon. We found that P.falciparum ingestion triggers a midgut-associated, as well as a systemic, response in the mosquito, with three genes, NOS, defensin and GNBP, being regulated by ingestion of gametocytes, the infectious stage of the parasite. Surprisingly, we found a different pattern of expression of these genes in the An.gambiae-P.berghei model. Therefore, differences in mosquito reaction against various Plasmodium species may exist, which stresses the need to validate the main conclusions suggested by the P.berghei-An.gambiae model in the P.falciparum-An.gambiae system.

Anopheles gambiae is the major African vector of Plasmodium falciparum, the most deadly species of human malaria parasite and the most prevalent in Africa. Several strategies are being developed to limit the global impact of malaria via reducing transmission rates, among which are transmission-blocking vaccines (TBVs), which induce in the vertebrate host the production of antibodies that inhibit parasite development in the mosquito midgut. So far, the most promising components of a TBV are parasite-derived antigens, although targeting critical mosquito components might also successfully block development of the parasite in its vector. We previously identified A. gambiae genes whose expression was modified in P. falciparum-infected mosquitoes, including one midgut carboxypeptidase gene, cpbAg1. Here we show that P. falciparum up-regulates the expression of cpbAg1 and of a second midgut carboxypeptidase gene, cpbAg2, and that this up-regulation correlates with an increased carboxypeptidase B (CPB) activity at a time when parasites establish infection in the mosquito midgut. The addition of antibodies directed against CPBAg1 to a P. falciparum-containing blood meal inhibited CPB activity and blocked parasite development in the mosquito midgut. Furthermore, the development of the rodent parasite Plasmodium berghei was significantly reduced in mosquitoes fed on infected mice that had been immunized with recombinant CPBAg1. Lastly, mosquitoes fed on anti-CPBAg1 antibodies exhibited reduced reproductive capacity, a secondary effect of a CPB-based TBV that could likely contribute to reducing Plasmodium transmission. These results indicate that A. gambiae CPBs could constitute targets for a TBV that is based upon mosquito molecules.Malaria remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in human populations, with over 3 billion people living in areas at risk for malaria transmission and an estimated 350 to 500 million clinical episodes occurring annually (29). Plasmodium falciparum malaria causes more than a million deaths each year, mainly in young children in sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, the malaria burden has increased over the last 10 to 15 years, and this situation has been associated in part with parasite resistance to commonly used antimalarial drugs and resistance of mosquito vectors to insecticides (29). Several strategies are being developed which target either the disease or its transmission. Owing to the complexity of the parasite life cycle, with both human stages that result in disease and mosquito stages that ensure transmission, an effective vaccine might combine pre-erythrocytic (sporozoite and liver stage), asexual erythrocytic, and transmission-blocking components. Although modeling of vaccine effects on malaria transmission dynamics indicates that a transmission-blocking vaccine (TBV) will be most effective in regions where the initial basic reproductive rate of malaria (R 0 ) is low (3,4,8,9), a TBV offers the advantage of blocking the spread of escape mutants that are resistant to asexual-stage ...

Sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) resistance in Plasmodium falciparum is encoded by a number of mutations in the dihydrofolate reductase (dhfr) and dihydropteroate synthetase (dhps) genes. Here, we have characterized point mutations in dhfr and dhps and microsatellite loci around dhfr on chromosome 4 and dhps on chromosome 8 as well as neutral markers on chromosomes 2 and 3 in 332 samples from Yaoundé, Cameroon. The triple mutant dhfr haplotype that originated in Southeast Asia is the most predominant in this sample set, but we also find additional independent haplotypes at low frequency and an incipient process of genetic differentiation among alleles of Southeast Asian origin. As reported for other African populations, we find evidence of a selective sweep for resistant dhfr mutants in this Cameroonian population due to drug selection. Although we find evidence for a selective sweep in dhps mutants associated with SP resistance, the dynamics of dhps mutants appear different than those observed for dhfr mutants. Overall, our results yield support for the use of microsatellite markers to track resistant parasites; however, the detection of resistant dhfr alleles in low frequency, the evidence of divergence among dhfr alleles that share a common evolutionary origin, and the distinct dynamics of resistant dhps alleles emphasize the importance of comprehensive, population-based investigations to evaluate the effects of drug selection on parasite populations.Plasmodium falciparum resistance to the most commonly used antimalarial drugs has been detected worldwide, reaching the level of a public health emergency (15, 37). Resistance to chloroquine has led to the discontinued use of the drug in many parts of the world, and resistance to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP), an affordable and widely available alternative to chloroquine, has rendered this drug ineffective in many areas as well.Malaria control programs around the world are turning to artemisinin-based combination therapies. However, policy decisions to delay the emergence of resistance against artemisinin-based combination therapies must be made before critical information is widely available. Thus, the fundamental understanding of how resistance against drugs such as SP and chloroquine emerges and how this resistance disseminates will provide critical information for developing strategies to identify and contain resistance to other drugs. In addition, because of its safety for pregnant women and infants and its long action, SP is the only drug recommended for intermittent preventive treatment in these vulnerable populations, and new antifolate combinations are under development (15). Thus, understanding the dynamics of mutations associated with resistance against SP is still a matter of great epidemiologic and public health importance.SP acts as an inhibitor of the P. falciparum folic acid pathway, and point mutations in the genes encoding dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) and dihydropteroate synthetase (DHPS) have been implicated in SP resistance (16). Point mutati...