<i>Plasmodium falciparum</i> Homologue of the Genes for <i>Plasmodium vivax</i> and <i>Plasmodium yoelii</i> Adhesive Proteins, Which Is Transcribed but Not Translated

Abstract

The 235-kDa family of rhoptry proteins in Plasmodium yoelii and the two reticulocyte binding proteins of P. vivax comprise a family of proteins involved in host cell selection and erythrocyte invasion. Here we described a member of the gene family found in P. falciparum (PfRH3) that is transcribed in its entirety, under stage-specific control, with correct splicing of the intron, but appears not to be translated, probably due to two reading frameshifts at the 5' end of the gene.