Plasmodium knowlesi is a parasite that causes malaria in humans and other primates. It is found throughout Southeast Asia, and is the most common cause of human malaria in Malaysia. A published large-scale genomic analysis of Plasmodium knowlesi led by Anna et al. recently confirms that the parasite falls into three main sub-populations distinguished by a combination of geographical location (Borneo, Peninsula) and macaque host (Macaca fascicularis and M. nemestrina). The analysis reveals differences in Borneo clusters linked to mosquito-related stages of the parasite cycle, in contrast to differences in host-related stages for the Peninsula group. The work identifies new genetic exchange events, including introgressions between Malaysian Peninsula and M. nemestrina-associated clusters on various chromosomes.

COVID-19 has reinforced the importance of staff and personal wellbeing. Laboratory staff work predominantly onsite, and due to the nature of their work, bioinformaticians can work from home. The LSHTM group has a workplace lunch every Friday at the end of the month, to gather the entire team (or as much as possible) and just enjoy each other's company with strictly no work talk allowed! This month we went to Phoenix Palace, which has great food. We look forward to the next team lunch day next month and welcoming new additions to the team.

Klebsiella pneumoniae (Kp) Gram-negative bacteria cause nosocomial infections and rapidly acquire antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which makes it a global threat to human health. It also has a comparatively rare hypervirulent phenotype that can lead to severe disease in otherwise healthy individuals. In recent work by Anton et al., involving 13k publicly available sequenced Kp isolates and 2k hypervirulent strains, we analyzed the plasmid replicons and carbapenemase and siderophore encoding genes to understand the movement of hypervirulence and AMR genes located on plasmids. The large-scale analysis reveals outbreaks and movement of hypervirulent strains, including in China.