The putative gene for the first enzyme of glutathione biosynthesis in Plasmodium berghei and Plasmodium falciparum

The putative gene for γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase, the rate-limiting enzyme in glutathione biosynthesis, has been characterized both in Plasmodium berghei and Plasmodium falciparum. Protein sequence comparison between these two species reveals large conserved regions sharing more than 80% similarity, separated by less conserved portions. When the comparison is extended to known γ-glutamylcysteine synthetases from other eukaryotes, a number of high similarity blocks are observed which may help in identifying sequence essential for protein function.