NUCLEOTIDE SEQUENCE ALIGNMENTS AND BLAST PHYLOGENETIC OF RESISTANT PLASMODIUM FALCIPARUM GENES FROM KACHIA AND KAFANCHAN IN KADUNA STATE NIGERIA

ABSTRACT The selected Plasmodium falciparum isolates amplicons were sequenced to obtain the nucleotide sequence alignment profile. The result from the sequence alignment was further blasted to determine the phylogenic ancestry of the resistant genes. Nucleotide alignment of Plasmodium falciparum multidrug resistant (PFMDR) genes and Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine resistant (PFCRT) transporter from volunteered malaria patients isolates, obtained from general hospital Kachia and general hospital Kafanchan Kaduna State were sequenced and blasted using BLAST N program. The nucleotide sequences showed relatedness to imported isolates from Africa in Henan Province (Yang et al., 2018). The phylogenetic studies showed relatedness to resistant Plasmodium falciparum gene from Tripura. The FAST A profile of the nucleotide sequence of the different resistant genes and their accession number from the gene bank were well documented. The observed Plasmodium falciparum Chloroquine resistant transporter (PFCRT) (186 — 800bp) and Plasmodium falciparum Multidrug resistant gene I (PFMDR1) (300 — 1200 bp) amplification for Artemether was identified as the genes involved in resistance. The sequence arrangement of Plasmodium falciparum Chloroquine resistant gene PFCRT 184 gene (500bp) from Kachia with Gene bank sequence ID MH266479.1 had 100% percent relatedness when compared to PFCRT (500bp) from Kafanchan with sequence ID MH266479. The Phylogenic tree with sequence ID 1274671 spans ten (10) generation. It was concluded that the similarity in the percentage of sequence alignment between the genes isolated from Kachia isolates and Kafanchan isolates indicated that human movement was responsible for the similar genes found in both towns. The search for drug combinations should be intensified and the use of molecular method to monitor antimalarial drug resistance in Kaduna State should be encouraged