The evolution of plasmodial stage-specific rRNA genes is dominated by gene conversion

Plasmodium species exhibit the unprecedented situation of distinct, stage-specific rRNA sequences. We present an analysis of two pairs of sequences of the small rRNA subunit (Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium berghei) and show that these genes do not evolve independently and that in fact their evolution is dominated by gene conversion. This analysis also shows that no extensive stage-specific sequences are conserved in the two species, thus rendering unlikely that the existence of stage-specific rRNA genes results from a requirement for distinct rRNA types.