{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]],"date-time":"2026-09-17T22:41:00Z","timestamp":1789684860091,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,4]],"date-time":"2021-11-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1635984000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Genetics Research Center UNAH","award":["N\/A"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["N\/A"]}]},{"name":"Armed Forces Health Surveillance Division (AFHSD) and its Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response (GEIS) Section (P0144_20_N6_01, 2020-2021).","award":["N4485220P0037"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["N4485220P0037"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pathogens"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The countries of Central America and the island of Hispaniola have set the goal of eliminating malaria in less than a decade. Although efforts to reduce the malaria burden in the region have been successful, there has been an alarming increase in cases in the Nicaraguan Moskitia since 2014. The continuous decrease in cases between 2000 and 2014, followed by a rapid expansion from 2015 to the present, has generated a potential bottleneck effect in the populations of Plasmodium spp. Consequently, this study aimed to evaluate the genetic diversity of P. falciparum and the decrease in allelic richness in this population. The polymorphic regions of the pfmsp-1 and pfmsp-2 genes of patients with falciparum malaria from Honduras and Nicaragua were analyzed using nested PCR and sequencing. Most of the samples were classified into the K1 allelic subfamily of the pfmsp-1 gene and into the 3D7 subfamily of the pfmsp-2 gene. Despite the low genetic diversity found, more than half of the samples presented a polyclonal K1\/RO33 haplotype. No sequence polymorphisms were found within each allelic subfamily. This study describes a notable decrease in the genetic diversity of P. falciparum in the Moskitia region after a bottleneck phenomenon. These results will be useful for future epidemiological investigations and the monitoring of malaria transmission in Central America.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens10111432","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,4]],"date-time":"2021-11-04T22:25:54Z","timestamp":1636064754000},"page":"1432","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Evidence of a Recent Bottleneck in Plasmodium falciparum Populations on the Honduran\u2013Nicaraguan Border"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Alejandra","family":"Pinto","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Microbiology Research Institute, National Autonomous University of Honduras, Tegucigalpa 11101, Honduras"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Osman","family":"Archaga","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Microbiology Research Institute, National Autonomous University of Honduras, Tegucigalpa 11101, Honduras"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"\u00c1ngel","family":"Mej\u00eda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Microbiology Research Institute, National Autonomous University of Honduras, Tegucigalpa 11101, Honduras"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lenin","family":"Escober","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Malaria Laboratory, National Department of Surveillance, Ministry of Health of Honduras, Tegucigalpa 11101, Honduras"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jessica","family":"Henr\u00edquez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Malaria Laboratory, National Department of Surveillance, Ministry of Health of Honduras, Tegucigalpa 11101, Honduras"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alberto","family":"Montoya","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Center for Diagnosis and Reference, Health Ministry, Managua 11001, Nicaragua"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hugo O.","family":"Valdivia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Parasitology, U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit No, 6 (NAMRU-6), Lima 07006, Peru"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9756-4520","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gustavo","family":"Fontecha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Microbiology Research Institute, National Autonomous University of Honduras, Tegucigalpa 11101, Honduras"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"World Health Organization (2020). World Malaria Report 2020: 20 Years of Global Progress and Challenges, WHO. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.","DOI":"10.30875\/60123dd4-en"},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"World Health Organization (2021). Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016\u20132030, World Health Organization."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"152","DOI":"10.1186\/s12936-021-03693-3","article-title":"Temporal evolution of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine resistance genotypes and genetic diversity in response to a decade of increased interventions against Plasmodium falciparum in northern Ghana","volume":"20","author":"Asoala","year":"2021","journal-title":"Malar. J."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"172","DOI":"10.1186\/s12936-021-03708-z","article-title":"Drug resistance profile and clonality of Plasmodium falciparum parasites in Cape Verde: The 2017 malaria outbreak","volume":"20","author":"Ward","year":"2021","journal-title":"Malar. J."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1297","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1259423","article-title":"Monitoring parasite diversity for malaria elimination in sub-Saharan Africa","volume":"345","author":"Ghansah","year":"2014","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"263","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.20-0148","article-title":"State of Artemisinin and Partner Drug Susceptibility in Plasmodium falciparum Clinical Isolates from Colombia","volume":"104","author":"Montenegro","year":"2021","journal-title":"Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"310","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.19-0749","article-title":"Molecular Surveillance for Polymorphisms Associated with Artemisinin-Based Combination Therapy Resistance in Plasmodium falciparum Isolates Collected in the State of Roraima, Brazil","volume":"102","author":"Lucchi","year":"2020","journal-title":"Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"141","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.1997.56.141","article-title":"Population structure of Plasmodium falciparum in villages with different malaria endemicity in east Africa","volume":"56","author":"Babiker","year":"1997","journal-title":"Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"233","DOI":"10.1186\/1756-3305-4-233","article-title":"Genetic diversity of Plasmodium falciparum isolates from Pahang, Malaysia based on MSP-1 and MSP-2 genes","volume":"4","author":"Atroosh","year":"2011","journal-title":"Parasit. Vectors"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"239","DOI":"10.1186\/s12936-021-03776-1","article-title":"Genetic diversity of Plasmodium falciparum populations in three malaria transmission settings in Madagascar","volume":"20","author":"Ralinoro","year":"2021","journal-title":"Malar. J."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"96","DOI":"10.1186\/s12936-021-03635-z","article-title":"Parasite genetic diversity reflects continued residual malaria transmission in Vhembe District, a hotspot in the Limpopo Province of South Africa","volume":"20","author":"Gwarinda","year":"2021","journal-title":"Malar. J."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"242","DOI":"10.1186\/s12936-021-03763-6","article-title":"Genetic diversity and genetic relatedness in Plasmodium falciparum parasite population in individuals with uncomplicated malaria based on microsatellite typing in Eastern and Western regions of Uganda, 2019\u20132020","volume":"20","author":"Bosco","year":"2021","journal-title":"Malar. J."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"85","DOI":"10.1186\/s12936-021-03625-1","article-title":"Genetic polymorphisms of Plasmodium falciparum isolates from Melka-Werer, North East Ethiopia based on the merozoite surface protein-2 (msp-2) gene as a molecular marker","volume":"20","author":"Mohammed","year":"2021","journal-title":"Malar. J."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Santamaria, A.M., Vasquez, V., Rigg, C., Moreno, D., Romero, L., Justo, C., Chaves, L.F., Saldana, A., and Calzada, J.E. (2020). Plasmodium falciparum genetic diversity in Panama based on glurp, msp-1 and msp-2 genes: Implications for malaria elimination in Mesoamerica. Life, 10.","DOI":"10.3390\/life10120319"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"30","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.1999.60.30","article-title":"Limited genetic diversity of Plasmodium falciparum in field isolates from Honduras","volume":"60","author":"Haddad","year":"1999","journal-title":"Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"839","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.2005.73.839","article-title":"Prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum mutations associated with antimalarial drug resistance during an epidemic in Kuna Yala, Panama, Central America","volume":"73","author":"Samudio","year":"2005","journal-title":"Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"391","DOI":"10.1186\/1475-2875-11-391","article-title":"Genetic diversity of Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum in Honduras","volume":"11","author":"Lopez","year":"2012","journal-title":"Malar. J."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"324","DOI":"10.1016\/j.meegid.2015.08.040","article-title":"Genetic structure of Plasmodium vivax in Nicaragua, a country in the control phase, based on the carboxyl terminal region of the merozoite surface protein-1","volume":"40","author":"Gutierrez","year":"2016","journal-title":"Infect. Genet. Evol."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"202","DOI":"10.1186\/s12936-016-1263-0","article-title":"Global genetic diversity of the Plasmodium vivax transmission-blocking vaccine candidate Pvs48\/45","volume":"15","author":"Vallejo","year":"2016","journal-title":"Malar. J."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"374","DOI":"10.1186\/1475-2875-10-374","article-title":"Plasmodium vivax lineages: Geographical distribution, tandem repeat polymorphism, and phylogenetic relationship","volume":"10","author":"Prajapati","year":"2011","journal-title":"Malar. J."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"354","DOI":"10.1186\/1475-2875-12-354","article-title":"Genetic structure of Plasmodium falciparum populations across the Honduras-Nicaragua border","volume":"12","author":"Larranaga","year":"2013","journal-title":"Malar. J."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"20975","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-020-78103-w","article-title":"Genomic surveillance of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax cases at the University Hospital in Tegucigalpa, Honduras","volume":"10","author":"Valdivia","year":"2020","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"236","DOI":"10.1186\/s12936-021-03734-x","article-title":"Genetic diversity and population structure of Plasmodium falciparum in Nigeria: Insights from microsatellite loci analysis","volume":"20","author":"Ajogbasile","year":"2021","journal-title":"Malar. J."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3756","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-020-60676-1","article-title":"Spatio-temporal dynamics of Plasmodium falciparum transmission within a spatial unit on the Colombian Pacific Coast","volume":"10","author":"Knudson","year":"2020","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"102374","DOI":"10.1016\/j.parint.2021.102374","article-title":"Molecular surveillance of malaria in the Central Highlands, Vietnam","volume":"83","author":"Vo","year":"2021","journal-title":"Parasitol. Int."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"111390","DOI":"10.1016\/j.molbiopara.2021.111390","article-title":"Diversity and natural selection of merozoite surface protein-1 in three species of human malaria parasites: Contribution from South-East Asian isolates","volume":"244","author":"Goh","year":"2021","journal-title":"Mol. Biochem. Parasitol."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"115","DOI":"10.1186\/s12936-020-03161-4","article-title":"Genetic diversity of Plasmodium falciparum and genetic profile in children affected by uncomplicated malaria in Cameroon","volume":"19","author":"Metoh","year":"2020","journal-title":"Malar. J."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"13704","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-019-50152-w","article-title":"Characterization of drug resistance and genetic diversity of Plasmodium falciparum parasites from Tripura, Northeast India","volume":"9","author":"Patgiri","year":"2019","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"241","DOI":"10.1186\/s12936-019-2879-7","article-title":"Changing pattern of the genetic diversities of Plasmodium falciparum merozoite surface protein-1 and merozoite surface protein-2 in Myanmar isolates","volume":"18","author":"Le","year":"2019","journal-title":"Malar. J."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"447","DOI":"10.1186\/s12936-018-2592-y","article-title":"Diversity analysis of MSP1 identifies conserved epitope organization in block 2 amidst high sequence variability in Indian Plasmodium falciparum isolates","volume":"17","author":"Ghoshal","year":"2018","journal-title":"Malar. J."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/0166-6851(93)90002-F","article-title":"Analysis of sequence diversity in the Plasmodium falciparum merozoite surface protein-1 (MSP-1)","volume":"59","author":"Miller","year":"1993","journal-title":"Mol. Biochem. Parasitol."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"131","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1550-7408.1998.tb05080.x","article-title":"Stable patterns of allelic diversity at the Merozoite surface protein-1 locus of Plasmodium falciparum in clinical isolates from southern Vietnam","volume":"45","author":"Ferreira","year":"1998","journal-title":"J. Eukaryot. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"27","DOI":"10.1016\/j.actatropica.2017.09.026","article-title":"Spatial and temporal distribution of Pfmsp1 and Pfmsp2 alleles and genetic profile change of Plasmodium falciparum populations in Gabon","volume":"178","author":"Ngomo","year":"2018","journal-title":"Acta Trop."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"564","DOI":"10.2478\/s11686-013-0181-3","article-title":"Genetic diversity in human malarial parasites of Khyber Agency Pakistan","volume":"58","author":"Khatoon","year":"2013","journal-title":"Acta Parasitol."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1467","DOI":"10.1093\/oxfordjournals.molbev.a026247","article-title":"Microsatellite markers reveal a spectrum of population structures in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum","volume":"17","author":"Anderson","year":"2000","journal-title":"Mol. Biol. Evol."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"403","DOI":"10.1186\/s12936-020-03471-7","article-title":"Molecular epidemiology of Plasmodium falciparum by multiplexed amplicon deep sequencing in Senegal","volume":"19","author":"Ndiaye","year":"2020","journal-title":"Malar. J."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"67","DOI":"10.1016\/j.actatropica.2009.12.009","article-title":"Near-fixation of a Pfmsp1 block 2 allelic variant in genetically diverse Plasmodium falciparum populations across Western Colombia","volume":"114","author":"Jimenez","year":"2010","journal-title":"Acta Trop."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Al-abd, N.M., Mahdy, M.A., Al-Mekhlafi, A.M., Snounou, G., Abdul-Majid, N.B., Al-Mekhlafi, H.M., and Fong, M.Y. (2013). The suitability of P. falciparum merozoite surface proteins 1 and 2 as genetic markers for in vivo drug trials in Yemen. PLoS ONE, 8.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0067853"},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"127","DOI":"10.1016\/S0014-4894(03)00091-2","article-title":"Plasmodium falciparum: Limited genetic diversity of MSP-2 in isolates circulating in Brazilian endemic areas","volume":"103","author":"Faria","year":"2003","journal-title":"Exp. Parasitol."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"950","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.2009.09-0132","article-title":"Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax infections in the Peruvian Amazon: Propagation of complex, multiple allele-type infections without super-infection","volume":"81","author":"Sutton","year":"2009","journal-title":"Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg."},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"785","DOI":"10.1016\/0923-2508(92)90107-Y","article-title":"A one-step microbial DNA extraction method using \u201cChelex 100\u201d suitable for gene amplification","volume":"143","author":"Zandotti","year":"1992","journal-title":"Res. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"687","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.1999.60.687","article-title":"A genus- and species-specific nested polymerase chain reaction malaria detection assay for epidemiologic studies","volume":"60","author":"Singh","year":"1999","journal-title":"Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"250","DOI":"10.1186\/1475-2875-8-250","article-title":"Comparison of Plasmodium falciparum allelic frequency distribution in different endemic settings by high-resolution genotyping","volume":"8","author":"Schoepflin","year":"2009","journal-title":"Malar. J."},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"79","DOI":"10.1186\/1475-2875-10-79","article-title":"Plasmodium falciparum msp1, msp2 and glurp allele frequency and diversity in sub-Saharan Africa","volume":"10","author":"Mwingira","year":"2011","journal-title":"Malar. J."}],"container-title":["Pathogens"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-0817\/10\/11\/1432\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T07:25:53Z","timestamp":1760167553000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-0817\/10\/11\/1432"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,4]]},"references-count":44,"journal-issue":{"issue":"11","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,11]]}},"alternative-id":["pathogens10111432"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/pathogens10111432","relation":{},"ISSN":["2076-0817"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2076-0817","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,4]]}}}