Evidence for a single origin of the 35 kb plastid DNA in apicomplexans

Gene organization on three selected parts of the 35-kb plastid DNA of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum was compared with that of two other apicomplexans, namely Toxoplasma gondii and Eimeria tenella. This comparison included the characteristic inverted ribosomal RNA repeat. A short segment of DNA from Theileria annulata also was included in a separate comparison. Criteria such as the presence or absence of particular genes, their map positions and their sequences, were used to assess whether the apicomplexan plastid DNAs originated from a single origin (a unitary hypothesis for the entire phylum), or whether disparate multiple events were more likely. The results provisionally favour a single origin although clearly this comparison of the apicomplexan pIDNAs is still fragmentary. Contrary to the tendency towards homogeneity, evidence was found that the coccidian plastids may have evolved a suppressor mechanism for UGA stop codons.