{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,30]],"date-time":"2026-10-30T12:57:15Z","timestamp":1793365035391,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":53,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,17]],"date-time":"2021-11-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1637107200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Genet."],"abstract":"<jats:p><jats:bold>Background:<\/jats:bold> Understanding the genetic diversity of <jats:italic>Plasmodium<\/jats:italic> species through polymorphic studies can assist in designing more effective control strategies of malaria like new drug formulation and development of a vaccine. Pakistan is moderate endemic for <jats:italic>Plasmodium falciparum<\/jats:italic>, but little is known about the genetic diversity of this parasite. This study aimed to investigate the molecular diversity of <jats:italic>P. falciparum<\/jats:italic> based on <jats:italic>msp-1<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>msp-2<\/jats:italic> genes in the malaria-endemic regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.<\/jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Methods:<\/jats:bold> A total of 199\/723 blood samples, tested positive by microscopy for <jats:italic>falciparum<\/jats:italic> malaria, were collected from four districts (Dera Ismail Khan, Karak, Mardan, and Peshawar) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Nested PCR amplification technique was employed to target block 2 of <jats:italic>msp-1<\/jats:italic> and the central domain of <jats:italic>msp-2<\/jats:italic> genes, including their respective allelic families K1, MAD20, RO33, FC27, and 3D7\/IC, and to detect the extent of genetic diversity of <jats:italic>P. falciparum<\/jats:italic> clinical isolates.<\/jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Results:<\/jats:bold> Among the 199 microscopy-positive <jats:italic>P. falciparum<\/jats:italic> samples, a total of 192 were confirmed using PCR. Ninety-seven amplicons were observed for <jats:italic>msp<\/jats:italic>-<jats:italic>1<\/jats:italic> and 95 for <jats:italic>msp-2<\/jats:italic>. A total of 33 genotypes, 17 for <jats:italic>msp-1<\/jats:italic> (eight K1, six MAD20, and three RO33) and 16 for <jats:italic>msp-2<\/jats:italic> (nine FC27 and seven 3D7\/IC), were identified. The specific allelic frequency of the K1 family was higher (44.3%) than that of MAD20 (33.0%) and RO33 (23.0%) for <jats:italic>msp-1<\/jats:italic>, while the FC27 allelic family was dominant (60.0%) compared with 3D7\/IC (40.0%) for <jats:italic>msp-2<\/jats:italic>. No polyclonal infection was observed in <jats:italic>msp-1<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>msp-2<\/jats:italic>. The expected heterozygosity was 0.98 and 0.97 for <jats:italic>msp-1<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>msp-2<\/jats:italic>, respectively.<\/jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Conclusion:<\/jats:bold> It was concluded that the <jats:italic>P. falciparum<\/jats:italic> populations are highly polymorphic, and diverse allelic variants of <jats:italic>msp-1<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>msp-2<\/jats:italic> are present in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fgene.2021.751552","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,17]],"date-time":"2021-11-17T07:21:46Z","timestamp":1637133706000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Genetic Diversity of Polymorphic Marker Merozoite Surface Protein 1 (Msp-1) and 2 (Msp-2) Genes of Plasmodium falciparum Isolates From Malaria Endemic Region of Pakistan"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Shahid Niaz","family":"Khan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rehman","family":"Ali","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sanaullah","family":"Khan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Muhammad","family":"Rooman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sadia","family":"Norin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shehzad","family":"Zareen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ijaz","family":"Ali","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sultan","family":"Ayaz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"29","DOI":"10.1007\/s00436-007-0716-3","article-title":"Allelic Polymorphism of MSP2 Gene in Severe P. 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