EBL-1, a putative erythrocyte binding protein of Plasmodium falciparum, maps within a favored linkage group in two genetic crosses.

The Duffy binding-like (DBL) superfamily of Plasmodium falciparum encompasses genes which encode ligands for host cell receptors. This superfamily includes two distinct groups of genes, the var genes which encode antigenically variant cytoadherence proteins (PfEMP1), and the eba-175 gene which encodes a glycophorin A binding protein involved in erythrocyte invasion. Here we describe another DBL superfamily member related to eba-175, the ebl-1 gene. Like the eba-175 gene, ebl-1 is a single copy gene encoding DBL domains that have sequences and an overall arrangement distinct from var genes. The inheritance of ebl-1 was found to be strongly favored in two genetic crosses in which one parental clone lacked a chromosome segment carrying the gene. A proliferation phenotype has been previously linked to the same chromosome segment in the first genetic cross. These results suggest that ebl-1 and eba-175 are related members of a multigene family involved in the invasion of erythrocytes by P. falciparum.