Evolutionary relatedness of Plasmodium species as determined by the structure of DNA [Malaria parasites]

Malaria parasites can be grouped evolutionarily by analysis of DNA composition and genome arrangement. Those that vary widely with regard to host range, morphology, and biological characteristics fit into only a small number of distinctive groups. The DNA of the human parasite Plasmodium falciparum fits into a group that includes rodent and avian malarias and is unlike the DNA of other primate malaria parasites. The DNA of Plasmodium vivax, which is also a human parasite, fits into a distinctly different group that includes Plasmodium cynomolgi, a parasite of monkeys. The evolutionary lines suggested here appear to be consistent with similarities seen among malaria parasites with regard to gene sequence.