Evolutionary Origin of Plasmodium and Other Apicomplexa Based on rRNA Genes

Authors

Ananias A. Escalante, University of California, IrvineFollow
Francisco J. Ayala, University of California, Irvine

ORCID IDs

Escalante 0000-0002-1532-3430

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

3-7-1995

Citation

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (1995) 92: 5,793-5,797

doi: 10.1073/pnas.92.13.5793

Comments

License: CC BY-NC-ND

Abstract

We have explored the evolutionary history of the Apicomplexa and two related protistan phyla, Dinozoa and Ciliophora, by comparing the nucleotide sequences of small subunit ribosomal RNA genes. We conclude that the Plasmodium lineage, to which the malarial parasites belong, diverged from other apicomplexan lineages (piroplasmids and coccidians) several hundred million years ago, perhaps even before the Cambrian. The Plasmodium radiation, which gave rise to several species parasitic to humans, occurred 129 million years ago; Plasmodium parasitism of humans has independently arisen several times. The origin of apicomplexans (Plasmodium), dinoflagellates, and ciliates may be >1 billion years old, perhaps older than the three multicellular kingdoms of animals, plants, and fungi. Digenetic parasitism independently evolved several times in the Apicomplexa.