Genetic Diversity of Plasmodium falciparum helical interspersed subtelomeric (phistb) gene in Tanzania and neighboring countries

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dc.contributor.authorMbwambo , Ruth
dc.contributor.authorPereus, Dativa
dc.contributor.authorBakari, Catherine
dc.contributor.authorMoshi, Ramadhan
dc.contributor.authorKisambale, Angelina
dc.contributor.authorMadebe, Rashid
dc.contributor.authorMisago, Seth
dc.contributor.authorMandara, Celine
dc.contributor.authorLyimo, Beatus
dc.contributor.authorMbwambo, Daniel
dc.contributor.authorAaron, Sijenunu
dc.contributor.authorLusasi, Abdallah
dc.contributor.authorLazaro, Samuel
dc.contributor.authorJuma, Gerald
dc.contributor.authorKulohoma, Benard
dc.contributor.authorIshengoma, Deus
dc.date.accessioned2025-12-23T11:36:45Z
dc.date.issued2025-10-28
dc.descriptionSDG-3: Good Health and Well-being (Primary SDG) SDG-4: Quality Education SDG-9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure SDG-10: Reduced Inequalities SDG-17: Partnerships for the Goals
dc.description.abstractBackground Lysine-rich membrane associated Plasmodium helical interspersed subtelomeric gene (phistb) is a member of the phist family of genes which encodes exported proteins essential for the parasite’s survival within infected red blood cells. Recent studies suggest the phistb gene as a promising malaria vaccine candidate, however its genetic diversity remains understudied. This study assessed the genetic diversity of the phistb gene in regions of varying malaria transmission aiming to generate data and improve our understanding of this promising malaria vaccine candidate gene. Methods Genomic data from 1,472 P. falciparum samples from Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia were retrieved in VCF format from the MalariaGEN Pf7 database. Variants were filtered to include only biallelic SNPs with VQSLOD > 1 and “PASS” status. Genetic diversity, differentiation, and selection signatures were analyzed using population genetics metrics. Results After filtering, 1,312 samples were retained. Wright’s inbreeding coefficient (Fws) showed 875 (66.7%) monoclonal infections, highest in Ethiopia (95.3%), followed by Tanzania (67.2%), Kenya (65.7%), and Uganda (50%). Among these 875 monoclonal samples, 88 haplotypes were identified, with Hap_1 and Hap_13 comprising 59% of samples. Nucleotide and haplotype diversity in Kenya was 0.097, and 0.88 respectively, which were relatively higher than in the other study populations. The overall fixation index (Fst) was <0.05, and Principal Component Analysis revealed no clear population sub-structure among countries. Negative Tajima’s D values in Tanzania, Kenya, and Ethiopia indicated an excess of low-frequency alleles. Conclusion This study reports low genetic diversity of the phistb gene in the four countries despite varying malaria transmission intensity among them, thus making it a suitable candidate gene for malaria vaccine. Further studies should be conducted to assess individual antibodies recognition of the phistb variants and the ability to elicit cross reactivity to further support its potential as a vaccine candidate.
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.12688/verixiv.2259.1
dc.identifier.urihttps://dspace.nm-aist.ac.tz/handle/123456789/3541
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherTaylor & Francis
dc.subjectPHISTb gene
dc.subjectGenetic diversity
dc.subjectTanzania
dc.subjectMolecular surveillance
dc.subjectMalaria
dc.titleGenetic Diversity of Plasmodium falciparum helical interspersed subtelomeric (phistb) gene in Tanzania and neighboring countries
dc.typeArticle

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