Assessing the genetic diversity of the aldolase genes of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax and its potential effect on performance of aldolase-detectimz rapid diagnostic tests

Malaria-specific rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) targeting aldolase show highly variable sensitivities. We assessed diversity in Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax aldolases by sequencing the coding genes from parasites of various origins. The results show that aldolases are highly conserved, indicating that antigenic diversity is not a cause of variable RDT sensitivity.