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Inform."],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:p>Variable surface antigens (VSAs) encoded by <jats:italic>var<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>vir<\/jats:italic> genes in <jats:italic>Plasmodium falciparum<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Plasmodium vivax<\/jats:italic>, respectively, are known to be involved in malaria pathogenesis and host immune escape through antigenic variations. Knowledge of the genetic diversity of these antigens is essential for malaria control and effective vaccine development. In this study, we analysed the genetic diversity and evolutionary patterns of two fragments (DBL2X and DBL3X) of <jats:italic>VAR2CSA<\/jats:italic> gene and four <jats:italic>vir<\/jats:italic> genes (<jats:italic>vir<\/jats:italic> 4, <jats:italic>vir<\/jats:italic> 12, <jats:italic>vir<\/jats:italic> 21 and <jats:italic>vir<\/jats:italic> 27) from different endemic regions, including Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. High levels of segregating sites (S) and haplotype diversity (Hd) were observed in both <jats:italic>var<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>vir<\/jats:italic> genes. Among <jats:italic>vir<\/jats:italic> genes, <jats:italic>vir<\/jats:italic> 12 (<jats:italic>S<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u2009131, <jats:italic>Hd<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.996) and <jats:italic>vir<\/jats:italic> 21 (<jats:italic>S<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u2009171, <jats:italic>Hd<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u2009892) were found to be more diverse as compared to <jats:italic>vir<\/jats:italic> 4 (<jats:italic>S<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u200911, <jats:italic>Hd<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.748) and <jats:italic>vir<\/jats:italic> 27 (<jats:italic>S<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u200923, <jats:italic>Hd<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.814). DBL2X (<jats:italic>S<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u200999, <jats:italic>Hd<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.996) and DBL3X (<jats:italic>S<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u2009307, <jats:italic>Hd<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.999) fragments showed higher genetic diversity. Our analysis indicates that <jats:italic>var<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>vir<\/jats:italic> genes are highly diverse and follow the similar evolutionary pattern globally. Some codons showed signatures of positive or negative selection pressure, but <jats:italic>vir<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>var<\/jats:italic> genes are likely to be under balancing selection. This study highlights the high variability of <jats:italic>var<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>vir<\/jats:italic> genes and underlines the need of functional experimental studies to determine the most relevant allelic forms for effective progress towards vaccine formulation and testing.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1186\/s44342-024-00009-0","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,15]],"date-time":"2024-07-15T09:01:54Z","timestamp":1721034114000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Genetic diversity and natural selection analysis of VAR2CSA and vir genes: implication for vaccine development"],"prefix":"10.1186","volume":"22","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4145-9953","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Joseph","family":"Hawadak","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9800-5752","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Aditi","family":"Arya","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5267-503X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Shewta","family":"Chaudhry","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0113-7394","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vineeta","family":"Singh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"9_CR1","unstructured":"World malaria report 2022. https:\/\/www.who.int\/publications-detail-redirect\/9789240064898. 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