Malaria and Leishmania parasites share the knob-associated histidine-rich protein gene sequences.

1. The main coding region of the knob-associated histidine-rich protein (KAHRP) gene of Plasmodium falciparum hydridized with genomic DNA of Leishmania donovani. 2. A total of five EcoRI fragments of various sizes (7.5, 5.5, 3.2, 0.75 and 0.56 Kb) were recognized by this probe, under lower stringent conditions. However, under a higher stringency of washing, two of the smallest fragments were washed away. 3. Out of these EcoRI fragments, the 5.5 Kb band showed a maximum homology with the probe which contains the histidine-rich coding sequences, whereas the 3.2 Kb band showed none. Thus there is a possibility that the Leishmania parasite also contains a KAHRP-like gene.