DNA sequence analysis also revealed a high degree of genetic polymorphism such as indels/tandem repeats and single nucleotide polymorphism click here (SNPs) among field isolates of P. vivax. Two indels were found which were restricted to non-coding region. The tandem repeat consisted of six amino acids (PA/TT/VQKK) revealed as 0–3 repeats in field isolates. A total of 178 SNPs were found, out of which 32 were in non-coding region while the remaining were in coding region. The observed higher number of SNPs was mainly due to the dimorphism between Sal-1 and Belem type alleles. Number of non-synonymous substitutions in

coding region was higher (n=106) as compared to synonymous substitutions (n=46), which indicates that pvrbp-2 is under positive selection pressure. None of the SNP (synonymous or non synonymous) was associated with frame shift mutation. Comparison of pvrbp-2 sequences from Indian field isolates with pvrbp-2 reference sequence (Sal-1: P. vivax strain) suggests a higher degree of DNA sequence polymorphism. Distinguishing Belem and Sal-1 alleles with RFLP The virtual restriction mapping of pvrbp-2 sequences AluI and ApoI enzymes reveals a distinct RFLP pattern of Belem and

Sal-1 alleles. Virtual restriction mapping of pvrbp-2 with AluI revealed a distinct 1500 bp and 380 bp fragments for Belem allele. Similarly, virtual restriction mapping with ApoI showed a distinct 250 bp fragment aminophylline for Belem allele. The results of RAD001 datasheet virtual restriction mapping of Belem and Sal-1 pvrbp-2 sequences

with AluI and ApoI enzymes were confirmed with RFLP analysis of field isolates. On the basis of RFLP patterns, all samples were categorized according to the Sal-1 and Belem type. Of the 83 P. vivax isolates analyzed, 38.55% (32/83) were Belem type, 56.63% (47/83) were Sal-1 type, and 4.82% (4/83) were mixed of both alleles (Table 2). Furthermore, comparison of RFLP pattern showed Sal-1 alleles to be more polymorphic (24/36) than Belem allele (12/36) in the natural parasite populations. Thus, dimorphism observed in sequence analysis could also be identified by simple PCR-RFLP method. Table 2 Distribution of Pvrbp-2 based Sal-1 and Belem alleles in field isolates Geographical regions Sample size (N) Sal-I Belem Both Delhi 13 8 5   Nadiad 21 17 4   Panna 18 7 11   Rourkela 16 10 4 2 Chennai 10 3 5 2 Kamrup 5 2 3   Total (n) 83 47 32 4 Discussion Malaria eradication program is facing remarkable challenges due to spread of drug resistance and the complex population genetic structure of human malaria parasites. Gaining an insight into the genetic population structure of the parasites would provide valuable information for designing an improved malaria control strategy. The present study investigates genetic polymorphism in pvrbp-2 among field isolates of P. vivax using simple PCR-RFLP.