Editing Plasmodium falciparum (section)

=== Genome ===

In 1995 the Malaria Genome Project was set up to sequence the genome of ''P. falciparum''. The genome of its [[mitochondrion]] was reported in 1995, that of the nonphotosynthetic [[plastid]] known as the apicoplast in 1996,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wilson |first1=(Iain) R.J.M. |last2=Denny |first2=Paul W. |last3=Preiser |first3=Peter R. |last4=Rangachari |first4=Kaveri |last5=Roberts |first5=Kate |last6=Roy |first6=Anjana |last7=Whyte |first7=Andrea |last8=Strath |first8=Malcolm |last9=Moore |first9=Daphne J. |last10=Moore |first10=Peter W. |last11=Williamson |first11=Donald H. |title=Complete Gene Map of the Plastid-like DNA of the Malaria Parasite ''Plasmodium falciparum'' |journal=Journal of Molecular Biology |date=August 1996 |volume=261 |issue=2 |pages=155–172 |doi=10.1006/jmbi.1996.0449}}</ref> and the sequence of the first nuclear [[chromosome]] (chromosome 2) in 1998. The sequence of chromosome 3 was reported in 1999 and the entire genome was reported on 3 October 2002.<ref name="gardner">{{cite journal |last1=Gardner |first1=Malcolm J. |last2=Hall |first2=Neil |last3=Fung |first3=Eula |last4=White |first4=Owen |last5=Berriman |first5=Matthew |last6=Hyman |first6=Richard W. |last7=Carlton |first7=Jane M. |last8=Pain |first8=Arnab |last9=Nelson |first9=Karen E. |last10=Bowman |first10=Sharen |last11=Paulsen |first11=Ian T. |last12=James |first12=Keith |last13=Eisen |first13=Jonathan A. |last14=Rutherford |first14=Kim |last15=Salzberg |first15=Steven L. |last16=Craig |first16=Alister |last17=Kyes |first17=Sue |last18=Chan |first18=Man-Suen |last19=Nene |first19=Vishvanath |last20=Shallom |first20=Shamira J. |last21=Suh |first21=Bernard |last22=Peterson |first22=Jeremy |last23=Angiuoli |first23=Sam |last24=Pertea |first24=Mihaela |last25=Allen |first25=Jonathan |last26=Selengut |first26=Jeremy |last27=Haft |first27=Daniel |last28=Mather |first28=Michael W. |last29=Vaidya |first29=Akhil B. |last30=Martin |first30=David M. A. |last31=Fairlamb |first31=Alan H. |last32=Fraunholz |first32=Martin J. |last33=Roos |first33=David S. |last34=Ralph |first34=Stuart A. |last35=McFadden |first35=Geoffrey I. |last36=Cummings |first36=Leda M. |last37=Subramanian |first37=G. Mani |last38=Mungall |first38=Chris |last39=Venter |first39=J. Craig |last40=Carucci |first40=Daniel J. |last41=Hoffman |first41=Stephen L. |last42=Newbold |first42=Chris |last43=Davis |first43=Ronald W. |last44=Fraser |first44=Claire M. |last45=Barrell |first45=Bart |title=Genome sequence of the human malaria parasite ''Plasmodium falciparum'' |journal=Nature |date=October 2002 |volume=419 |issue=6906 |pages=498–511 |doi=10.1038/nature01097|pmid=12368864 |bibcode=2002Natur.419..498G |pmc=3836256 }}</ref> The roughly 24-megabase genome is extremely AT-rich (about 80%) and is organised into 14 chromosomes. Just over 5,300 genes were described. Many genes involved in [[antigenic variation]] are located in the [[subtelomeric]] regions of the chromosomes. These are divided into the ''var'', ''rif'', and ''stevor'' families. Within the genome, there exist 59 ''var'', 149 ''rif'', and 28 ''stevor'' genes, along with multiple [[pseudogenes]] and truncations. It is estimated that 551, or roughly 10%, of the predicted nuclear-encoded [[proteins]] are targeted to the [[apicoplast]], while 4.7% of the [[proteome]] is targeted to the mitochondria.<ref name="gardner"/>