Confutation of the existence of sequence-conserved cytochrome P450 enzymes in Plasmodium falciparum

► Absence of homologs of Plasmodium cytochrome P450 (CYP), i.e., CYP1A, 2A, 2B and 2E enzymes. ► Absence of CYP2B1/B2 gene in P. falciparum using Northern analysis with a rat CYP2B1/B2 probe. ► We investigate for the presence of a homologous protein of the mammalian cytochrome P450 CYP2B1/B2 in Plasmodium falciparum. ► The analysis failed to identify homologs to CYP1A, 2A, 2B and 2E enzymes. ► Plasmodium does not contain identifiable sequences with known human CYP enzymes.