Last Updated: 02/12/2024

Identifying malaria vaccine candidate antigens using genetic linkage analyses

Objectives

*Original title and abstract were machine translated from Japanese

This proposal sets to identify targets of host immunity using Linkage Group Selection (LGS) and the experimental rodent malaria parasite system, Plasmodium vinckei by systematically testing the ability of combinations of strains of P. vinckei to induce strain specific immunity in mice, then apply LGS to attempt to identify the genes that encode protective antigens.

Principal Institution

Ehime University, Japan

Principal Investigators / Focal Persons

Richard Culleton

Partner Institutions

Nagasaki University, Japan

Rationale and Abstract

A comprehensive genetic resource for P. vinckei has been generated comprising of five reference-quality genomes, one for each of its subspecies, blood-stage RNA sequencing data for five P. vinckei isolates, and genotypes and growth phenotypes for ten isolates. Additionally, seven isolates of the RMP species Plasmodium chabaudi and Plasmodium yoelii were sequenced, thus extending genotypic information for four additional subspecies enabling a re-evaluation of the genotypic diversity and evolutionary history of RMPs. The subspecies from the highland forests of Katanga, P. v. vinckei, has a uniquely smaller genome, a reduced multigene family repertoire and is also amenable to transfection making it an ideal parasite for reverse genetics. It also shows that P. vinckei parasites are amenable to genetic crosses.

Date

Apr 2019 — Mar 2022

Total Project Funding

$38,978

Funding Details
Country / Project Site(s)

Japan

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