show Abstracthide AbstractThe Apicomplexan Plasmodium knowlesi is the causative agent of malaria-like disease in macaques, and passes through a mosquito vector. Human beings bit by infected mosquitos may on occassion be infected with Plasmodium knowlesi and become severely ill. Four Plasmodium strains and the reference strain have been sequenced to establish a background for understanding transmission of the parasite to humans.