ArticleNature communications2018
Networks of genetic similarity reveal non-neutral processes shape strain structure in Plasmodium falciparum.
Article in Nature communications, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers.
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Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed.
- From multiplicity of infection to force of infection in sparsely sampled high-transmissioneLife · 2026Article
- Negative Frequency-Dependent Selection Promotes Strain Structure in a Plant Pathogen.Ecology letters · 2026Article
- Measuring changes ineLife · 2025Article
- Metagenomic complexity of high, seasonal transmission of Plasmodium spp. in asymptomatic carriers in Northern Sahelian Ghana.Communications medicine · 2025Article
- Understanding the traits underlying vaccine-driven virulence evolution in malaria parasites.BMC biology · 2025Article
- Var genes, strain hyperdiversity, and malaria transmission dynamics.Trends in parasitology · 2025Review
- Plasmodium falciparum expresses fewer var genes at lower levels during asymptomatic dry season infections than clinical malaria cases.PLoS pathogens · 2025Article
- Metagenomic analysis reveals extreme complexity ofmedRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025Article
- A paradoxical population structure of var DBLα types in Africa.PLoS pathogens · 2025Article
- Review of MrsFreqPhase methods: methods designed to estimate statistically malaria parasite multiplicity of infection, relatedness, frequency and phase.Malaria journal · 2024Review
- Population genomic structure of the sea urchin Diadema africanum, a relevant species in the rocky reef systems across the Macaronesian archipelagos.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Hyper-diverse antigenic variation and resilience to transmission-reducing intervention in falciparum malaria.Nature communications · 2024Article
- SNP-slice resolves mixed infections: simultaneously unveiling strain haplotypes and linking them to hosts.Bioinformatics (Oxford, England) · 2024Article
- Article
- Hyper-diverse antigenic variation and resilience to transmission-reducing intervention in falciparum malaria.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2024Article
- Antigenic strain diversity predicts different biogeographic patterns of maintenance and decline of anti-malarial drug resistance.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023Article
- A paradoxical population structure ofbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023Article
- An immune memory-structured SIS epidemiological model for hyperdiverse pathogens.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023Article
- Bartonella infections are prevalent in rodents despite efficient immune responses.Parasites & vectors · 2023Article
- Multilayer networks of plasmid genetic similarity reveal potential pathways of gene transmission.The ISME journal · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Pathogens compete for hosts through patterns of cross-protection conferred by immune responses to antigens. In Plasmodium falciparum malaria, the var multigene family encoding for the major blood-stage antigen PfEMP1 has evolved enormous genetic diversity through ectopic recombination and mutation. With 50-60 var genes per genome, it is unclear whether immune selection can act as a dominant force in structuring var repertoires of local populations. The combinatorial complexity of the var system remains beyond the reach of existing strain theory and previous evidence for non-random structure cannot demonstrate immune selection without comparison with neutral models. We develop two neutral models that encompass malaria epidemiology but exclude competitive interactions between parasites. These models, combined with networks of genetic similarity, reveal non-neutral strain structure in both simulated systems and an extensively sampled population in Ghana. The unique population structure we identify underlies the large transmission reservoir characteristic of highly endemic regions in Africa.
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