Co-reporter:Jun Li;Xiaohong Wang;Genwei Zhang;John I. Githure;Guiyun Yan;Anthony A. James
PNAS 2013 Volume 110 (Issue 51 ) pp:20675-20680
Publication Date(Web):2013-12-17
DOI:10.1073/pnas.1321024110
The malaria parasite-resistance island (PRI) of the African mosquito vector, Anopheles gambiae, was mapped to five genomic regions containing 80 genes, using coexpression patterns of genomic blocks. High-throughput sequencing
identified 347 nonsynonymous single-nucleotide polymorphisms within these genes in mosquitoes from malaria-endemic areas in
Kenya. Direct association studies between nonsynonymous single-nucleotide polymorphisms and Plasmodium falciparum infection identified three naturally occurring genetic variations in each of three genes (An. gambiae adenosine deaminase, fibrinogen-related protein 30, and fibrinogen-related protein 1) that were associated significantly with parasite infection. A role for these genes in the resistance phenotype was confirmed
by RNA interference knockdown assays. Silencing fibrinogen-related protein 30 increased parasite infection significantly, whereas ablation of fibrinogen-related protein 1 transcripts resulted in mosquitoes nearly free of parasites. The discovered genes and single-nucleotide polymorphisms are
anticipated to be useful in the development of tools for malaria control in endemic areas in Africa.