Plasmodium falciparum homologue of the genes for Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium yoelii adhesive proteins, which is transcribed but not translated

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