Molecular systematics of the three mitochondrial protein-coding genes of malaria parasites: Corroborative and new evidence for the origins of human malaria

Abstract

Background and aims. The mitochondrial genomes of malaria parasites (Plasmodium and related genera) are extremely small and contain just three protein-coding genes. These short linear genomes are tandemly repeated, allowing for amplification of the entire unit using a single pair of outwardly facing primers.

Materials and methods. Using this approach, I sequenced full mitochondrial genomes for seven new lineages of these parasites belonging to four genera and then, combining these new sequences with other published ones, I examined the phylogenetic utility of each of the three protein-coding genes, alone and when concatenated into a data-set of 3315 nucleotides.

Results. Most relationships recovered are consistent with previous studies of the group.

Conclusion. Support for an Asian origin of Plasmodium vivax and a sister relationship of Plasmodium falciparum to the rodent malaria parasites was observed in this study. However, if a broad understanding of the evolutionary relationships of this group is to truly be understood, it is clear that loci outside the mitochondrial genome should be explored.

• Plasmodium
• malaria
• cytochrome b
• cytochrome oxidase I
• cytochrome oxidase III

Acknowledgements

Some of this work was carried out using the resources of the Computational Biology Service Unit from Cornell University, which is partially funded by Microsoft Corporation. Allison Kerwin assisted with the collection of the genomic sequence data. George Amato offered constructive criticism of the manuscript.

Declaration of interest: The author reports no conflicts of interest. The author alone is responsible for the content and writing of the paper.