Schematic representations defining the multi-exon gene structure for P.falciparum ebl. Boxed regions denote exons and horizontal lines signify flanking untranslated regions and introns. Regions of similarity are designated and/or shaded similarly: putative signal sequence (S), dbp and eba-175 DBL ligand domains (fading gray), maebl M1/M2 domains and ama-1 subdomains 1 and 2 (black), c-cys domain (light gray), 3′ exons encoding putative transmembrane domain and two cytoplasmic tail domains, respectively (dark gray).