Abstract: The merozoite surface protein-3α of Plasmodium vivax（PvMSP-3α） is a surface protein that is expressed during the asexual blood stages. With a high polymorphism,  PvMSP-3α gene has been used as a suitable epidemiology and genotype marker. Moreover, it might be an important malaria vaccine candidate. This paper summarizes the research progress on the molecular structure, gene polymorphism and genotypes of PvMSP-3α.

Key words:  , Plasmodium vivax；Molecular marker；Merozoite surface protein-3&alpha, ；Polymorphism；Genotyping