Differential expansion of the merozoite surface protein (msp)-7 gene family in Plasmodium species under a birth-and-death model of evolution

MSP-7 is a surface protein expressed by the Plasmodium merozoite as part of a protein-complex involved in initial interaction between merozoite and erythrocyte. Contigs of seven Plasmodium species were analyzed in order to identify all msp-7 family genes. The search identified annotated and unannota...