Transcriptome
Transcription in P. falciparum appears to have significant differences from that found in most other eukaryotes examined to date with the chromatin undergoing dramatic unheavals during the cell cycle.
A transcriptome analysis has been conducted on the intraerythrocytic development cycle of P. falciparum. Roughly 60% of the genome is transcriptionally active during this portion of the parasite's life cycle. Whereas many genes appear to have stable mRNA levels throughout the cycle, many of the genes are transcriptionally regulated in a continuous cascade.
The transition from early trophozoite to trophozoite to schizont correlates with the ordered induction of genes related to transcription/translation machinery, metabolic synthesis, energy metabolism, DNA replication, protein degradation, plastid functions, merozoite invasion, and motility. Closely adjacent genes along the chromosome do not exhibit common transcription characteristics. Thus, genes are likely individually regulated along the parasite chromosome. Conversely, the apicoplast genome is polycistronic and most of its genes are coexpressed during the intraerythrocytic development cycle.
Read more about this topic: Plasmodium Falciparum Biology