Question

O P. falciparum originated independently from all of these Plasmodium species. Malaria is a tropical, mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasitic protist, Plasmodium. The species P. falciparum is particularly deadly, killing about 1 million people each year. Submit Previous Answers ✓ Correct Plasmodium in chimpanzees Plasmodium in gorillas Plasmodium in humans P. falciparum Part B P. malariae P. Knowlesi How might this information be useful in developing medical treatments for malaria? Match the terms in the left column to the appropriate blanks in the sentences on the right. Not all terms will be used. DATA: W. Liu et al. 2013. Nature 467: 420-425. Reset Help Plasmodium strain Researchers could compare the sequences of human and strains of Plasmodium, then look for a sequence present in a human parasite that might be linked to lethality codes for ]. see what the sequence , see what the sequence and make a that targets its that targets its product. drug gorilla speciation looks like change chimpanzee

Answer 1

The phylogeny here is built for the Plasmodium species that infect gorilla humans and chimpanzees. The blue ones infect humans, the red ones infect gorillas and the orange ones infect chimpanzees.

Here, as can be seen, these Plasmodium species share lineage. The human infecting species appear to be much similar to the ones infecting gorillas as opposed to the ones infecting chimpanzees.

Hence this can be a great tool to screen for mutations that have led to the lethality for malaria in humans not observed in gorillas. The mutations can be screened to study the protein(s) responsible and a drug that targets it/them can be designed. Thereby allowing the malarial lethality to decrease in humans.

Thus, we can fill in the blanks provided as follows:

Researchers could compare the sequences of human and gorilla species of Plasmodium, then look for a sequence change present in a human protein that might be linked to lethality. See what the sequence codes for and make a drug that targets its product.