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Comment
. 2021 Feb 25;17(2):e1009344.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1009344. eCollection 2021 Feb.

Order within chaos: Harnessing Plasmodium falciparum var gene extreme polymorphism for malaria epidemiology

Affiliations
Comment

Order within chaos: Harnessing Plasmodium falciparum var gene extreme polymorphism for malaria epidemiology

Marc-Antoine Guery et al. PLoS Genet. .
No abstract available

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Relevance of using DBLα sequences for malaria epidemiology.
(A) Schematic view of DBLα domain in PfEMP1, the protein encoded by var genes. The amino acid sequence of DBLα domain, with letter size proportional to the prevalence in the P. falciparum population, shows two conserved motifs on either side. Universal primers were designed to match the corresponding DNA sequence. (B) Each isolate’s geographical origin is estimated by comparing DBLα types found in the isolate with DBLα types found in a specific country. (C) World map with each country from South America (blue), Africa (green), and Asia or Oceania (red) highlighted. Rectangle areas are proportional to the weight of each country in the overall estimated geographical origin of isolates, based on DBLα matching proportions. For example, isolates from Uganda share a relatively high number of DBLα with Ghana and Gabon, while PNG is more isolated. Each country is preferentially self-matching. Data from Tonkin-Hill and colleagues [7]. Made with Natural Earth.

Comment on

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