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Research & Reviews: A Journal of Bioinformatics

Characterization and Variation of Plasmodium falciparum based on small subunit ribosomal RNA gene obtained from HIV sero-positive Patients

  1. Peace Amaka Onwuzurike
  2. Ifeoma Bessie Enweani Nwokelo
  3. Ifeoma Mercy Ekejindu

Abstract

The development of resistance to ACTS has been shown by several studies to precipitate from multiple strains of P. falciparum. Development drug sensitive P. falciparum has hindered the increase of and transmission of drug resistant P. falciparum. Despite the contribution of about 90% global malaria deaths by high transmission zones like Sub-Saharan Africa, emergence of resistance to anti-malaria drugs has been shown to emanate from low transmission zones like South East Asia. Identification and classification of organisms is made possible using small subunit ribosomal (ss-rRNA) gene sequence analysis. Hence, this study aims to characterize the structure and function of the SS-rRNAs sequenced from HIV sero positive individuals attending Nnamdi Azikiwe University teaching Hospital and to study the implication of their mutations in antimalarial resistance. Study participants were classified into 3 groups namely Group A1, Group A2 and Group B employing a consecutive non probability sampling technique; a total of 259 HIV positive and 259 HIV negative individuals were recruited for the study who were 18months and above in age. Four milliliters (4ml) of venous blood was collected from each participant. 2ml of the blood was dispensed into 2 separate Ethylene diamine tetra acetic (EDTA) containers and mixed ensuring the integrity of cellular elements and avoiding pre-analytical errors arising from sample collection and processing. The specie of the isolated Plasmodium was characterized using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. AB13500XL analyser with a 50cm array was used to sequence the ultra-pure DNA products. Generated sequences were sent to the Genbank with accession number OK474805, OK474806OK474805 differs from MW439228.1 by dissimilarity of nucleotide sequences (83 nucleotides) while OK474806 is found to be 100% similar with MW439230.1 without mutation.

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