@article {786,
	title = {The origin of antigenic diversity in Plasmodium falciparum.},
	journal = {Parasitol Today},
	volume = {16},
	year = {2000},
	month = {2000 Sep},
	pages = {390-6},
	abstract = {Most studies of genetic variability of Plasmodium falciparum have focused on protein antigens and the genes that encode them. The consensus is that populations exhibit high levels of genetic polymorphism, most notably the genes encoding surface proteins of the merozoite (Msp1, Msp2) and the sporozoite (Csp). The age and derivation of this variation is a subject that warrants further careful consideration, as discussed here by Stephen Rich, Marcelo Ferreira and Francisco Ayala.},
	keywords = {Amino Acid Sequence, Animals, Antigens, Protozoan, Base Sequence, Genes, Protozoan, Genetic Variation, Merozoite Surface Protein 1, Molecular Sequence Data, Plasmodium falciparum, Protozoan Proteins, Sequence Homology},
	issn = {0169-4758},
	author = {Rich, S M and Ferreira, M U and Ayala, F J}
}
@article {788,
	title = {Population structure and recent evolution of Plasmodium falciparum.},
	journal = {Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A},
	volume = {97},
	year = {2000},
	month = {2000 Jun 20},
	pages = {6994-7001},
	abstract = {Plasmodium falciparum is the agent of malignant malaria, one of mankind{\textquoteright}s most severe maladies. The parasite exhibits antigenic polymorphisms that have been postulated to be ancient. We have proposed that the extant world populations of P. falciparum have derived from one single parasite, a cenancestor, within the last 5, 000-50,000 years. This inference derives from the virtual or complete absence of synonymous nucleotide polymorphisms at genes not involved in immune or drug responses. Seeking to conciliate this claim with extensive antigenic polymorphism, we first note that allele substitutions or polymorphisms can arise very rapidly, even in a single generation, in large populations subject to strong natural selection. Second, new alleles can arise not only by single-nucleotide mutations, but also by duplication/deletion of short simple-repeat DNA sequences, a process several orders of magnitude faster than single-nucleotide mutation. We analyze three antigenic genes known to be extremely polymorphic: Csp, Msp-1, and Msp-2. We identify regions consisting of tandem or proximally repetitive short DNA sequences, including some previously unnoticed. We conclude that the antigenic polymorphisms are consistent with the recent origin of the world populations of P. falciparum inferred from the analysis of nonantigenic genes.},
	keywords = {Amino Acid Sequence, Animals, Base Sequence, Biological Evolution, Genes, Protozoan, Genetics, Population, Molecular Sequence Data, Plasmodium falciparum},
	issn = {0027-8424},
	author = {Rich, S M and Ayala, F J}
}
@article {793,
	title = {Malaria{\textquoteright}s Eve: evidence of a recent population bottleneck throughout the world populations of Plasmodium falciparum.},
	journal = {Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A},
	volume = {95},
	year = {1998},
	month = {1998 Apr 14},
	pages = {4425-30},
	abstract = {We have analyzed DNA sequences from world-wide geographic strains of Plasmodium falciparum and found a complete absence of synonymous DNA polymorphism at 10 gene loci. We hypothesize that all extant world populations of the parasite have recently derived (within several thousand years) from a single ancestral strain. The upper limit of the 95\% confidence interval for the time when this most recent common ancestor lived is between 24,500 and 57,500 years ago (depending on different estimates of the nucleotide substitution rate); the actual time is likely to be much more recent. The recent origin of the P. falciparum populations could have resulted from either a demographic sweep (P. falciparum has only recently spread throughout the world from a small geographically confined population) or a selective sweep (one strain favored by natural selection has recently replaced all others). The selective sweep hypothesis requires that populations of P. falciparum be effectively clonal, despite the obligate sexual stage of the parasite life cycle. A demographic sweep that started several thousand years ago is consistent with worldwide climatic changes ensuing the last glaciation, increased anthropophilia of the mosquito vectors, and the spread of agriculture. P. falciparum may have rapidly spread from its African tropical origins to the tropical and subtropical regions of the world only within the last 6,000 years. The recent origin of the world-wide P. falciparum populations may account for its virulence, as the most malignant of human malarial parasites.},
	keywords = {Africa, Animals, Asia, Climate, Demography, DNA, Protozoan, Evolution, Molecular, Genes, Protozoan, Humans, Life Cycle Stages, Malaria, Malaria, Falciparum, Netherlands, Phylogeny, Plasmodium, Plasmodium falciparum, Polymorphism, Genetic, South America, Tetrahydrofolate Dehydrogenase, Time},
	issn = {0027-8424},
	author = {Rich, S M and Licht, M C and Hudson, R R and Ayala, F J}
}
