Not all the details of the biochemical processes that function in Plasmodium spp. are known. In some investigations the end products of some metabolic pathways were identified through the use of a radiolabeled precursor. While such result implicates the presence of a multi-enzyme pathway, none of the individual enzymes that are involved has been tested independently. In other cases, the gene coding for an enzyme has been cloned and sequenced, but its expression has not been ascertained. Therefore, the maps were constructed based on the present knowledge of parasite biochemistry and on pathways known to occur in other unicellular eukaryotes.
Most pathways are relevant to the erythrocytic phase of the parasite cycle.
Potential users of the site should be aware that not all enzymes and reactions that are illustrated in the maps have been conclusively shown to operate in Plasmodium spp. The metabolic maps available in this site do not show enzyme names and co-factors and metabolites that participate in enzymatic reactions. In cases where specific inhibitors were demonstrated to be active against the parasite, they are depicted next to the process that they affect. The site is constructed based on the present knowledge of parasite biochemistry and physiology. Chemical structures of substrates and products.