Orthology between the genomes of Plasmodium falciparum and rodent malaria parasites: possible practical applications.

The work of the consortium that has been formed to complete the entire sequence of the genome of a selected clone of the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, is almost finished. Already huge tracts of the genome are available as fully assembled chromosomes or large contigs and the work of initial annotation is in an advanced state. Post-genomic research is in one sense the process of furthering the process of annotation, creating biological atlases and preliminary attempts to make global descriptions of gene transcription and proteome analysis are underway. Comparison between significant amounts of genome data from both closely, and more distantly related organisms, can facilitate the identification of genes themselves, coordinately regulated gene expression groups, gene function and genome organization. Models of malaria can fulfil these functions and in addition provide an experimental system wherein predictions can be tested and basic experimental investigations performed within numerous aspects of disease, pathology, parasite-host and parasite-vector interactions. Comparative genomics in Plasmodium has already been shown to have informative roles in the completion of annotation and the elucidation of gene function. These roles will be illustrated by example and used as the basis for a discussion of the utility of genome information and malaria models in realizing the desired product of Plasmodium genomics, the development of malaria therapies.