Publications by authors named "Katlijn De Meulenaere"
Article Synopsis
- Pathogen genomic epidemiology can enhance our understanding of tropical diseases, like malaria, aiding in intervention planning and monitoring efforts for better control and elimination.
- The study analyzed 1,474 high-quality parasite genomes from 31 countries, revealing significant genetic diversity, especially in Latin America, where distinct populations and sub-populations exist tied to transmission intensity.
- Findings show adaptive evolution in key genes related to parasite survival, providing insights into drug resistance, immune evasion, and transmission dynamics essential for effective control strategies.
Malaria is caused by parasites of the genus , and reached a global disease burden of 247 million cases in 2021. To study drug resistance mutations and parasite population dynamics, whole-genome sequencing of patient blood samples is commonly performed. However, the predominance of human DNA in these samples imposes the need for time-consuming laboratory procedures to enrich DNA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Plasmodium vivax is the second most important cause of human malaria worldwide, and accounts for the majority of malaria cases in South America. A high-quality reference genome exists for Papua Indonesia (PvP01) and Thailand (PvW1), but is lacking for South America. A reference genome specifically for South America would be beneficial though, as P.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBand 3-mediated invasion is associated with transcriptional variation in genes.
Front Cell Infect Microbiol
October 2022
Article Synopsis
- The process of reticulocyte invasion by malaria is not well understood, but the Southeast Asian ovalocytosis (SAO) phenotype, which has a deletion in the band 3 protein on red blood cells, appears to reduce malaria incidence.
- This study combined functional invasion assays and transcriptome sequencing to explore how band 3 mediates the invasion process, revealing a significant decrease in invasion rates in SAO reticulocytes compared to non-SAO.
- The research identified several potential band 3 ligands, confirming the role of band 3 as an invasion receptor while highlighting variability in inhibition levels, suggesting multiple ligands may be involved in the invasion process.
Plasmodium vivax parasites preferentially invade reticulocyte cells in a multistep process that is still poorly understood. In this study, we used ex vivo invasion assays and population genetic analyses to investigate the involvement of complement receptor 1 (CR1) in P. vivax invasion.
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