Fitness trade-offs in the evolution of dihydrofolate reductase and drug resistance in Plasmodium falciparum.
Patterns of emerging drug resistance reflect the underlying adaptive landscapes for specific drugs.In Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes the most serious form of malaria, antifolate drugs inhibit the function of essential enzymes in the folate pathway.However, a handful of mutations in Dryer Drum Belt the gene coding for one such enzym