Plasmodium brasilianum strain:Bolivian I RefSeq BioProject. Plasmodium brasilianum strain:Bolivian I RefSeq BioProject

Reference genome sequences are available for all zoonotic species of malaria parasites that can cause human malaria except for P. brasilianum. The authors assembled a complete genome from schizont stage P. brasilianum parasites of the Bolivian I strain using Illumina MiSeq and PacBio sequenced libraries. The final assembly consists of 14 chromosomes, the mitochondrial genome, the apicoplast genome, and 29 unplaced contigs. The completed genome is most similar to P. malariae and supports the hypothesis that P. brasilianum evolved from P. malariae to grow in New World monkeys. The P. brasilianum reference genome provided by the authors contributes to the completion of the P. malariae genome and offers genome specific sequence variations for distinguishing between these two strains.