Analyses of genetic variations at microsatellite loci present in-and-around the Pfcrt gene in Indian Plasmodium falciparum

The overall level and pattern of heterozygosity (He) in 20 independent microsatellite loci across the ∼102 kb region of the chromosome 7 encompassing the pfcrt gene in four different populations indicate complex evolutionary signatures at the pfcrt gene in Indian P. falciparum. However, models invoking hitchhiking and migration and/or natural selection could be more plausible explanations of the observed data.