# name
Plasmodium vivax Malaria viewed through the lens of an
                eradicated European strain

# metadata.dc.description.abstract[].value
The protozoan Plasmodium vivax is responsible for 42% of
                all cases of malaria outside Africa. The parasite is currently
                largely restricted to tropical and subtropical latitudes in
                Asia, Oceania and the Americas. Though, it was historically
                present in most of Europe before being finally eradicated during
                the second half of the 20th century. The lack of genomic
                information on the extinct European lineage has prevented a
                clear understanding of historical population structuring and
                past migrations of P. vivax. We used medical microscope slides
                prepared in 1944 from malaria-affected patients from the Ebro
                Delta in Spain, one of the last footholds of malaria in Europe,
                to generate a genome of a European P. vivax strain. Population
                genetics and phylogenetic analyses placed this strain basal to a
                cluster including samples from the Americas. This genome allowed
                us to calibrate a genomic mutation rate for P. vivax, and to
                estimate the mean age of the last common ancestor between
                European and American strains to the 15th century. This date
                points to an introduction of the parasite during the European
                colonisation of the Americas. In addition, we found that some
                known variants for resistance to anti-malarial drugs, including
                Chloroquine and Sulfadoxine, were already present in this
                European strain, predating their use. Our results shed light on
                the evolution of an important human pathogen and illustrate the
                value of antique medical collections as a resource for
                retrieving genomic information on pathogens from the past.

# metadata.dc.relation.ispartof[].value
Molecular Biology and Evolution, 2019, vol. 37, num. 3, p. 773–785

# metadata.dc.source[].value
Articles publicats en revistes (ISGlobal)

# metadata.dc.title[].value
Plasmodium vivax Malaria viewed through the lens of an
                eradicated European strain