The geography of malaria genetics in the Democratic Republic of Congo: A complex and fragmented landscape

Margaret Carrel; Jaymin Patel; Steve M Taylor; Mark Janko; Melchior Kashamuka Mwandagalirwa; Antoinette K Tshefu; Ananias A Escalante; Andrea McCollum; Md Tauqeer Alam; Venkatachalam Udhayakumar; Steven Meshnick; Michael Emch

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.10.037

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The geography of malaria genetics in the Democratic Republic of Congo: A complex and fragmented landscape

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The geography of malaria genetics in the Democratic Republic of Congo: A complex and fragmented landscape

Margaret Carrel, Jaymin Patel, Steve M Taylor, Mark Janko, Melchior Kashamuka Mwandagalirwa, Antoinette K Tshefu, Ananias A Escalante, Andrea McCollum, Md Tauqeer Alam, Venkatachalam Udhayakumar, …

Social Science & Medicine, Vol.133, pp.233-241

05/2015

DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.10.037

PMCID: PMC4402241

PMID: 25459204

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Abstract

Understanding how malaria parasites move between populations is important, particularly given the potential for malaria to be reintroduced into areas where it was previously eliminated. We examine the distribution of malaria genetics across seven sites within the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and two nearby countries, Ghana and Kenya, in order to understand how the relatedness of malaria parasites varies across space, and whether there are barriers to the flow of malaria parasites within the DRC or across borders. Parasite DNA was retrieved from dried blood spots from 7 Demographic and Health Survey sample clusters in the DRC. Malaria genetic characteristics of parasites from Ghana and Kenya were also obtained. For each of 9 geographic sites (7 DRC, 1 Ghana and 1 Kenya), a pair-wise RST statistic was calculated, indicating the genetic distance between malaria parasites found in those locations. Mapping genetics across the spatial extent of the study area indicates a complex genetic landscape, where relatedness between two proximal sites may be relatively high (RST > 0.64) or low (RST < 0.05), and where distal sites also exhibit both high and low genetic similarity. Mantel's tests suggest that malaria genetics differ as geographic distances increase. Principal Coordinate Analysis suggests that genetically related samples are not co-located. Barrier analysis reveals no significant barriers to gene flow between locations. Malaria genetics in the DRC have a complex and fragmented landscape. Limited exchange of genes across space is reflected in greater genetic distance between malaria parasites isolated at greater geographic distances. There is, however, evidence for close genetic ties between distally located sample locations, indicating that movement of malaria parasites and flow of genes is being driven by factors other than distance decay. This research demonstrates the contributions that spatial disease ecology and landscape genetics can make to understanding the evolutionary dynamics of infectious diseases. •Merging disease ecology & landscape genetics can illuminate diffusion of pathogens.•Malaria parasites in Democratic Republic of Congo have spatially complex genetics.•No barriers to malaria genetic exchange across political borders are found.

Disease ecology

Malaria

Landscape genetics

Democratic Republic of Congo

Details

Title: Subtitle: The geography of malaria genetics in the Democratic Republic of Congo: A complex and fragmented landscape
Creators: Margaret Carrel - Department of Geographical & Sustainability Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
Jaymin Patel - Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Steve M Taylor - Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Mark Janko - Department of Geography, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Melchior Kashamuka Mwandagalirwa - Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Antoinette K Tshefu - Ecole de Sante Publique, Faculte de Medecine, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Ananias A Escalante - Center for Evolutionary Medicine & Informatics, The Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
Andrea McCollum - Malaria Branch, Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria, Center for Global Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA
Md Tauqeer Alam - Malaria Branch, Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria, Center for Global Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA
Venkatachalam Udhayakumar - Malaria Branch, Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria, Center for Global Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA
Steven Meshnick - Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Michael Emch - Department of Geography, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Social Science & Medicine, Vol.133, pp.233-241
DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.10.037
PMID: 25459204
PMCID: PMC4402241
NLM abbreviation: Soc Sci Med
ISSN: 0277-9536
eISSN: 1873-5347
Publisher: Elsevier Ltd
Grant note: name: NSF, award: BCS-1339949; name: Gillings Innovative Laboratory Fund; name: NIH, award: 1R56AI097609-01, K08AI100924
Language: English
Date published: 05/2015
Academic Unit: Epidemiology; Interdisciplinary Programs; Geographical and Sustainability Sciences; Internal Medicine
Record Identifier: 9983983665202771

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