Genetic diversity and multiplicity of infection of Plasmodium falciparum isolates from Kolkata, West Bengal, India

• The P. falciparum population of the study area was genetically diverse.
• In Kolkata 27 different msp1 genotypes & 30 different msp2 genotypes were recorded.
• The frequencies of most of the msp1 and msp2 genotypes were less than 10%.
• The mean MOI for msp1 and msp2 gene were 2.05 and 3.72, respectively.

The study of genetic diversity of Plasmodium falciparum is necessary to understand the distribution and dynamics of parasite populations. The genetic diversity of P. falciparum merozoite surface protein-1 and 2 has been extensively studied from different parts of world. However, limited data are available from India. This study was aimed to determine the genetic diversity and multiplicity of infection (MOI) of P. falciparum population in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.A total of 80 day-zero blood samples from Kolkata were collected during a therapeutic efficacy study in 2008–2009. DNA was extracted; allelic frequency and diversity were investigated by PCR-genotyping method for msp1 and msp2 gene and fragment sizing was done by Bio-Rad Gel-Doc system using Image Lab (version 4.1) software.P. falciparum msp1 and msp2 markers were highly polymorphic with low allele frequencies. In Kolkata, 27 msp1 different genotypes (including 11of K1, 6 of MAD20 and 10 of Ro33 allelic families) and 30 different msp2 genotypes (of which 17 and 13 belonged to the FC27 and 3D7 allelic families, respectively) were recorded. The majority of these genotypes occurred at a frequency below 10%. The mean MOI for msp1 and msp2 gene were 2.05 and 3.72, respectively.The P. falciparum population of Kolkata was genetically diverse. As the frequencies of most of the msp1 and msp2 alleles were low, the probability of new infection with genotype identical to that in pretreatment infection was very rare. This information will serve as baseline data for evaluation of malaria control interventions as well as for monitoring the parasite population structure.

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