Figure 1

Schematic representation of the R45-FIKK kinase genes in the P. falciparum 3D7 genome including salient protein features as deduced from PlasmoDB (as per release 4.3) and mRNA expression profiling as published by Bozdech et al [16] and Le Roch et al [17]. The 20 genes of the family are scattered over 11 chromosomes, as indicated. Stage of expression refers to the stages in the life cycle where the mRNA has been consistently detected and / or is maximal (R, T, Sc, Mz and Sp refer to ring stage, trophozoite, schizont, merozoite and sporozoite, respectively). The kinase domain is depicted as a black bar. The polymorphic region within the kinase domain is shown in white. Exon borders are indicated with a downwards arrow head. The location of the pentameric Plasmodium Export element (Pexel) is marked with an asterisk. The Pexel sequence is indicated for each deduced protein. It is indicated in italics when it does not entirely match with the consensus (R,K)XLX(D,Q,E). ^† genes re-annotated in this work (see Materials and Methods).