No miRNA were found in Plasmodium and the ones identified in erythrocytes could not be correlated with infection

Background The transcriptional regulation of Plasmodium during its complex life cycle requires sequential activation and/or repression of different genetic programmes. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a highly conserved class of non-coding RNAs that are important in regulating diverse cellular functions by sequence-specific inhibition of gene expression. What is know about double-stranded RNA-mediated gene silencing (RNAi) and posttranscriptional gene silencing (PTGS) in Plasmodium parasites entice us to speculate whether miRNAs can also function in Plasmodium-infected RBCs.