Chromosome 2 Sequence of the Human Malaria ParasitePlasmodium falciparum

Abstract
Chromosome 2 ofPlasmodium falciparumwas sequenced; this sequence contains 947,103 base pairs and encodes 210 predicted genes. In comparison with theSaccharomyces cerevisiaegenome, chromosome 2 has a lower gene density, introns are more frequent, and proteins are markedly enriched in nonglobular domains. A family of surface proteins, rifins, that may play a role in antigenic variation was identified. The complete sequencing of chromosome 2 has shown that sequencing of the A+T-richP. falciparumgenome is technically feasible.