Long- and short-term selective forces on malaria parasite genomes
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Long- and short-term selective forces on malaria parasite genomes. / Nygaard, Sanne; Braunstein, Alexander; Malsen, Gareth; Van Dongen, Stijn; Gardner, Paul P; Krogh, Anders; Otto, Thomas D; Pain, Arnab; Berriman, Matthew; McAuliffe, Jon; Dermitzakis, Emmanouil T; Jeffares, Daniel C.
In: P L o S Genetics, Vol. 6, No. 9, 01.09.2010.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Long- and short-term selective forces on malaria parasite genomes
AU - Nygaard, Sanne
AU - Braunstein, Alexander
AU - Malsen, Gareth
AU - Van Dongen, Stijn
AU - Gardner, Paul P
AU - Krogh, Anders
AU - Otto, Thomas D
AU - Pain, Arnab
AU - Berriman, Matthew
AU - McAuliffe, Jon
AU - Dermitzakis, Emmanouil T
AU - Jeffares, Daniel C
PY - 2010/9/1
Y1 - 2010/9/1
N2 - Plasmodium parasites, the causal agents of malaria, result in more than 1 million deaths annually. Plasmodium are unicellular eukaryotes with small ~23 Mb genomes encoding ~5200 protein-coding genes. The protein-coding genes comprise about half of these genomes. Although evolutionary processes have a significant impact on malaria control, the selective pressures within Plasmodium genomes are poorly understood, particularly in the non-protein-coding portion of the genome. We use evolutionary methods to describe selective processes in both the coding and non-coding regions of these genomes. Based on genome alignments of seven Plasmodium species, we show that protein-coding, intergenic and intronic regions are all subject to purifying selection and we identify 670 conserved non-genic elements. We then use genome-wide polymorphism data from P. falciparum to describe short-term selective processes in this species and identify some candidate genes for balancing (diversifying) selection. Our analyses suggest that there are many functional elements in the non-genic regions of these genomes and that adaptive evolution has occurred more frequently in the protein-coding regions of the genome.
AB - Plasmodium parasites, the causal agents of malaria, result in more than 1 million deaths annually. Plasmodium are unicellular eukaryotes with small ~23 Mb genomes encoding ~5200 protein-coding genes. The protein-coding genes comprise about half of these genomes. Although evolutionary processes have a significant impact on malaria control, the selective pressures within Plasmodium genomes are poorly understood, particularly in the non-protein-coding portion of the genome. We use evolutionary methods to describe selective processes in both the coding and non-coding regions of these genomes. Based on genome alignments of seven Plasmodium species, we show that protein-coding, intergenic and intronic regions are all subject to purifying selection and we identify 670 conserved non-genic elements. We then use genome-wide polymorphism data from P. falciparum to describe short-term selective processes in this species and identify some candidate genes for balancing (diversifying) selection. Our analyses suggest that there are many functional elements in the non-genic regions of these genomes and that adaptive evolution has occurred more frequently in the protein-coding regions of the genome.
KW - Animals
KW - Conserved Sequence
KW - Genes, Protozoan
KW - Genome, Protozoan
KW - Malaria
KW - Open Reading Frames
KW - Parasites
KW - Phylogeny
KW - Plasmodium
KW - Selection, Genetic
KW - Species Specificity
KW - Time Factors
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pgen.1001099
DO - 10.1371/journal.pgen.1001099
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 20838588
VL - 6
JO - P L o S Genetics
JF - P L o S Genetics
SN - 1553-7390
IS - 9
ER -
ID: 33342642