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Submission of a paper to Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology, including a revised version, implies the transfer of copyright from the author(s) to the publisher and therefore that the corresponding author has obtained the approval of all other authors to the text and that it does not contain information previously published (except as a meeting abstract or by submission of sequence data to an electronic database) and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Publication in Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology is taken to imply the authors' willingness to comply with reasonable requests to supply reagents such as recombinant clones and monoclonal antibodies, and sequence data in electronic form to persons lacking access to computer databases.


Elsevier accepts electronic supplementary material to support and enhance your scientific research. Supplementary files offer the author additional possibilities to publish supporting applications, movies, animation sequences, high-resolution images, background datasets, sound clips and more. Supplementary files supplied will be published online alongside the electronic version of your article in Elsevier Web products, including ScienceDirect: http://www.sciencedirect.com. In order to ensure that your submitted material is directly usable, please ensure that data are provided in one of our recommended file formats. Authors should submit the material in electronic format together with the article and supply a concise and descriptive caption for each file. Video files: please supply 'stills' with your files: you can choose any frame from the video or make a separate image. These will be used instead of standard icons and will personalize the link to your supplementary information. For more detailed instructions please visit our artwork instruction pages at http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.


Graphical Abstracts
Please provide, when submitting your article, a graphical abstract. This comprises the title, authors and affiliations, identical to the article itself, a summary of about 25 words, and a pictogram: one figure representative of the work described. Maximum final dimensions of the pictogram are 5 x 5 cm: bear in mind readability after reduction, especially if using one of the figures from the article itself. Graphical abstracts will be collated to provide a contents list for rapid scanning.


Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to sign a "Journal Publishing Agreement" (for more information on this and copyright see http://www.elsevier.com/copyright). Acceptance of the agreement will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information. An e-mail (or letter) will be sent to the corresponding authors confirming receipt of the manuscript together with a "Journal Publishing Agreement" form or a link to the online version of this agreement. If excerpts from other copyrighted works are included, the author(s) must obtain written permission from the copyright owners and credit the source(s) in the article. Elsevier has preprinted froms for use by authors in these cases: contact Elsevier's Rights Department, Oxford, UK: phone (+44) 1865 843830, fax (+44) 1865 853333, e-mail permissions@elsevier.com . Requests may also be completed online via the Elsevier homepage ( http://www.elsevier.com/locate/permissions).

Manuscripts returned for revision should be returned to the editor within 3 months. Papers accepted for publication should be as concise as possible and should be no longer than 14 printed pages. In exceptional cases the editors will consider longer papers (never exceeding 20 printed pages) if the authors of such complex papers show to the satisfaction of the editors that the limitation in length would result in subdivision of the material into several papers and hence in an increase in the total number of pages necessary for the presentation of the work.

Authors' rights
As an author you (or your employer or institution) retain certain rights; for details you are referred to: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authorshome.authors/authorsrights

Protein and Nucleic Acid Sequences
Novel nucleotide or protein sequence data must be deposited in the GenBank™, EMBL or DDBJ databases and an accession number obtained before the paper can be accepted for publication. Submission to any one of the collaborating databanks is sufficient to ensure entry in all. The accession number should be included as a footnote on the title page of the manuscript:
'Note: Nucleotide sequence data reported in this paper are available in the GenBank™, EMBL and DDBJ databases under the accession number(s)----'. If requested the database will withhold release of data until publication. The usual method for submitting sequence data is by World Wide Web to either GenBank™ (via Banklt: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/BankIt/), EMBL (via Webln: http://www.ebi.ac.uk/subs/allsubs.html) or to DDBJ (via SAKURA: http://sakura.ddbj.nig.ac.jp/). Special types of submissions such, as genomes, bulk submissions, segmented sets, and population/phylogenetic/mutation studies, can be more easily prepared with the Sequin programme (available from the above Web sites). Files generated by the Sequin programme may be sent via e-mail to GenBank™ (submissions: e-mail: gb-sub@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov; enquiries: e-mail: info@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, EMBL (submissions: e-mail: datasubs@ebi.ac.uk; enquiries: e-mail: datalib@ebi.ac.uk) or DDBJ (submissions: e-mail: ddbjsub@ddbj.nig.ac.jp; enquiries: e-mail: sakura-admin@ddbj.nig.jp). Submitters without Web or e-mail access should write to one of the following addresses to obtain a hard copy submission form (GenBank Submissions, National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, 8600 Rockville Pike, Building 38A, Room 8N-805, Bethesda, MD 20894, USA. EMBL Nucleotide Sequence Submissions, European Bioinformatics Institute, Hinxton Hall, Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1SD, UK. DNA Data Bank of Japan, Center for Information Biology, National Institute of Genetics, Mishima, Shizuoka 411-8540, Japan). Authors are encouraged by the databases to update their entries as the need arises.

DNA sequences and GenBank Accession numbers
Many Elsevier journals cite "gene accession numbers" in their running text and footnotes. Gene accession numbers refer to genes or DNA sequences about which further information can be found in the databases at the National Center for Biotechnical Information (NCBI) at the National Library of Medicine. Elsevier authors wishing to enable other scientists to use the accession numbers cited in their papers via links to these sources, should type this information in the following manner:

For each and every accession number cited in an article, authors should type the accession number in bold, underlined text. Letters in the accession number should always be capitalised (see Example 1 below). This combination of letters and format will enable Elsevier's typesetters to recognize the relevant texts as accession numbers and add the required link to GenBank's sequences.

Example 1: "Note:GenBank accession nos. AI631510 , AI631511 , AI632198 , and BF223228) , a B-cell tumor from a chronic lymphatic leukemia (GenBank accession no. BE675048 ), and a T-cell lymphoma (GenBank accession no. AA361117 )".

Authors are encouraged to check accession numbers used very carefully. An error in a letter or number can result in a dead link.

In the final version of the printed article , the accession number text will not appear bold or underlined (see Example 2 below).

Example 2: "Note:GenBank accession nos. AI631510, AI631511, AI632198, and BF223228), a B-cell tumor from a chronic lymphatic leukemia (GenBank accession no. BE675048), and a T-cell lymphoma (GenBank accession no. AA361117)".

In the final version of the electronic copy , the accession number text will be linked to the appropriate source in the NCBI databases enabling readers to go directly to that source from the article (see Example 3 below).

Example 3: "GenBank accession nos. AI631510, AI631511, AI632198, and BF223228), a B-cell tumor from a chronic lymphatic leukemia (GenBank accession no. BE675048), and a T-cell lymphoma (GenBank accession no. AA361117)".

Ethics of experimentation
Submitted papers must contain precise details on the care and use of animals and of experimental procedures, especially interventions such as surgery and tissue sampling, and methods of euthanasia. Authors are expected to comply with all relevant institutional and governmental policies, regulations, and guidelines regarding the ethical treatment of experimental animals. Authors should record their compliance with such policies, regulations, and guidelines, as implemented under protocols developed by the relevant institution(s) with which authors are affiliated, in the Methods section of their manuscripts. The editors reserve the right to request documentation of such compliance. If experimental animals are used for growth of parasites when an in vitro culture system is available for the species in question, a specific justification for this must be provided.

Furthermore, referees are asked to indicate whether there is any reason to consider that experimental animals were used unnecessarily, not well treated or care was not taken to avoid distress. Papers may ultimately be rejected upon such grounds.


Distribution of Materials and Data
One of the terms and conditions of publishing in Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology is that authors be willing to distribute any materials and protocols used in the published experiments to qualified researchers for their own reasonable use. Materials include but are not limited to cells, DNA, antibodies, reagents, vectors, constructs, organisms, and mouse strains. If quantities allow, these must be made available with minimal restrictions and in a timely manner, but it is acceptable to request reasonable payment to cover the cost of maintenance and transport of materials. If there are restrictions to the availability of any materials, data, or information, these must be disclosed in the cover letter and the Materials and Methods section of the manuscript at the time of submission.


Authors who produce reagents that are suitable for the study of malaria parasites are strongly encouraged to deposit these with the Malaria Research and Reference Reagent Resource Center www.MR4.org.


Manuscripts
Manuscripts should be in English on numbered pages with double-spaced typing throughout (including tables, legends and reference lists). They should be divided into: (1)title page - include a succinct title (which should not normally exceed 100 characters and should not contain any subtitles or abbreviations), the names of all authors, including a given name for each, the institutions with city, state and country where the work was performed, the name and complete address (including telephone, fax and e-mail) of the corresponding author, a list of abbreviations and a list of addresses of authors who have moved from the institutions where the work was performed. (2) abstract - maximum 250 words, (3) keywords (3-6 indexing terms), (4) introduction, (5) materials and methods, (6) results, (7) discussion, (8) acknowledgements (grant support and technical support to be listed here), (9) references, (10) tables and (11) figure legends. A recent issue of the journal should be consulted for details. In the interests of clarity and brevity, it may sometimes be advantageous to combine the results and discussion into a single section. Everyone makes minor modifications to standard methods. Do not describe standard materials and methods or modifications unless they have significant and demonstrable utility. Do not duplicate descriptions of methodology in the figure legends. Generic and species names should be typed out in full the first time mentioned - in the title, the summary and the text - and thereafter the generic name should be abbreviated. Words or letters to be printed in italics should either be in italics or underlined. The metric system should be used throughout.

Short communications and Technical Reports
These are intended for the publication of brief definitive reports, sequence data, methods, biochemical or immunochemical data that do not merit a full-length publication.

Short communications have similar subject scope to the full-length papers, while short technical reports concern mainly methods and reports of completed DNA sequencing projects.

Short communications and technical reports are no more than four pages long including everything, with maximally two figures, one table and a maximum of 20 references. A single page contains about 900 words. Only the salient points of a long DNA sequence should be published, as the whole sequence will be available for a computer database. The title,authorship, affiliations, and an abstract not exceeding 150 words will be in the standard format of the journal. The text should not be sectioned, except for references. Essential experimental details may be incorporated into a figure legend. To facilitate rapid publication, authors will be expected to supply high-quality copy and expedite any necessary revisions.

Minireviews
Minireviews are by invitation only. Potential topics of general current interest should be submitted to the senior editor for consideration. Reviews should be short, current, specific and potentially provocative. They should provide a balanced synthesis from the available data rather than a comprehensive regurgitation of the literature. If possible, they should provide new concepts and ideas extending across different parasite systems. Reviews are restricted to about 4000 words, at most three display items including figures and tables and a list of references of not more than 50. The text can be divided into simple subsections with a succinct abstract. Minireviews will undergo the established review process at MBP, and will be published by an accelerated schedule if accepted.

References
In the text, references should be numbered singly in square brackets in order of their citation, e.g. [2,3,5-7]. In the list, references should be numbered in the order of citation in the text, not in alphabetical order. Unpublished data, personal communications and papers in preparation or 'submitted' should not be listed in the references (but may be incorporated at the appropriate place in the text); work 'in press' may be listed only if it has been accepted for publication. Personal communications must be accompanied by a letter from the named person(s) giving permission to quote such information. Abstracts (whether published or not), theses and similar material are not to be quoted in the list. If necessary, they can be referred to in the text in parentheses. Periodicals [1], books [2] and edited books [3] should accord with the following examples:

[1] Furuya T, Zhong L, Meyer-Fernandes JR, Lu H, Moreno SNJ, Docampo R. Ecto-protein tyrosine phosphatase activity in Trypanosoma cruzi infective stages. Mol Biochem Parasitol 1988;92:339-48.

[2] Sambrook J, Fritsch EF, Maniatis T. Molecular Cloning: a Laboratory Manual. 2nd ed. Cold Spring Harbor: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press 1989.

[3] Borst P, Bitter W, Blundell PA, et al. The expression sites for variant surface glycoproteins of Trypanosoma brucei. In: Hide G, Mottram JC, Coombs GH, Holmes PH, editors. Trypanosomiasis and Leishmaniasis: Biology and Control. Oxford: CAB International, 1997;7:109-31.

Abbreviations of journal titles should conform to those adopted by the List of Serial Title Word abbreviations, ISDS International Centre, 20, rue Bachaumont, 75002 Paris, France (ISBN 2-904938-02-8).

Tables
Each table should be typed double-spaced on a separate page and have a short descriptive title. A legend may be placed under table. Footnotes should be identified in the table by ^a, ^b, ^c, etc.

Figures
Figures must be in a form and condition suitable for high quality reproduction. Lettering should be clear and of adequate size to be legible after reduction. Consider the printed page and column proportions when preparing figures. Iffigures are not to be reduced their format should not exceed 16 x 20 cm. Multiple panels of a single figure must be mounted together. Each DNA sequence figure must fit on a single sheet of paper. Place numbering at one end of each line, not on separate lines, and avoid excessive line spacing. Consider placing nucleotide and protein data in separate panels, using single-letter amino acid abbreviations for the protein sequence and grouping nucleotides either continuously or in blocks of ten separated by one space (90 to 120 nt per line). Over 10 000 bp can legibly fit on each journal page in this format (see, e.g., Mol. Biochem. Parasitol. 95:141-146). Preferably use a sans-serif font. Upper case is standard, except that introns or other features can be usefully distinguished by lower case. Nucleotide sequences of long coding regions, where the amino acid sequence is the primary feature, and long DNA sequences, may, at the editor's discretion, be omitted from the printed paper. They can be obtained from electronic databases or from the authors. Half-tone illustrations may be included. They should have as much contrast as possible. A scale should appear on photomicrographs.

Please make sure that artwork files are in an acceptable format (TIFF, EPS or MS Office files) and with the correct resolution. If, together with your accepted article, you submit usable colour figures then Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge, that these figures will appear in colour on the Web (e.g., ScienceDirect and other sites) regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. For colour reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Elsevier after receipt of your accepted article. Figures in Review articles will be printed in colour free of charge. Please indicate your preference for colour in print or on the Web only. For further information on the preparation of electronic artwork, please see http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.

Figure legends should be typed double spaced at the end of the text, not on the figures. Figures should be checked extremely carefully, particularly after revisions. No changes to figures will be possible after acceptance of the manuscript.

Detailed instructions
Abbreviations, symbols, chemical and biochemical nomenclature, etc., should follow the recommendations given in the Journal of Biological Chemistry (Vol. 272, pp. 28165-28170; http://www.jbc.org). Avoid abbreviations which are not in common use across the field of molecular and biochemical parasitology. Those used should be defined in the text on first usage and listed as a footnote on the title page. Do not introduce abbreviations unless they are used at least 4 times.

Genetic nomenclature for Trypanosoma and Leishmania should follow the guidelines proposed by Clayton et al (1998), Mol Biochem Parasitol 1998;97:221-224 ( http://www.elsevier.nl/cas/tree/store/molbio/free/1998/97/1-2/3178.pdf).

Author enquiries
For enquiries relating to the submission of articles please visit this journal's homepage at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/molbiopara. You can track accepted articles at http://www.elsevier.com/trackarticle and set up email alerts to inform you of when an article's status has changed, as well as copyright information, frequently asked questions and more.

For detailed instructions on the preparation of electronic artwork, please visit http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.

Contact details for questions arising after acceptance of an article, especially those related to proofs, are provided after registration of an article for publication.

Proofreading
One set of page proofs in PDF format will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding Author. (If we do not have an e-mail address then paper proofs will be sent by post). Elsevier now sends PDF proofs which can be annotated; for this you will need to download Adobe Reader version 7, available free from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html. Instructions on how to annotate PDF files will accompany the proofs. If you do not wish to use the PDF annotations function, you may list the corrections (including replies to the Query Form) and return to Elsevier in an e-mail. Please list your corrections quoting line number. If, for any reason, this is not possible, then mark the corrections and any other comments (including replies to the Query Form) on a printout of your proof and return by fax, or scan the pages and e-mail, or send by post. Proofs should be read carefully and returned within 2 days of receipt. Please use this proof only for checking the typesetting, editing, completeness and correctness of the text, tables and figures. Significant changes to the article as accepted for publication will only be considered at this stage with permission from the Editor. We will do everything possible to get your article published quickly and accurately. Therefore, it is important to ensure that all of your corrections are sent back to us in one communication: please check carefully before replying, as inclusion of any subsequent corrections cannot be guaranteed. Proofreading is solely your responsibility. Note that Elsevier may proceed with the publication of your article if no response is received.

Language Polishing
For authors who require information about language editing and copyediting services pre- and post-submission, please visit http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authorshome.authors/languagepolishing or contact authorsupport@elsevier.com for more information. Please note that Elsevier neither endorses nor takes responsibility for any products, goods or services offered by outside vendors through our services or in any advertising. For more information, please refer to our terms and conditions http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/termsconditions.cws_home/termsconditions.

US National Institutes of Health (NIH) voluntary posting / "Public Access Policy"
Elsevier facilitates author posting in connection with the voluntary posting request of the NIH (referred to as the NIH "Public Access Policy"; see http://publicaccess.nih.gov/) by submitting the peer-reviewed author's manuscript directly to PubMed Central on request from the author, immediately after formal publication. Please e-mail us at NIHauthorrequest@elsevier.com) that your work has received NIH funding (with the NIH grant/project number(s), as well as the name and e-mail address of the Principal Investigator(s)) and that you intend to respond to the NIH request. Upon such confirmation, Elsevier will submit to PubMed Central on your behalf a version of your manuscript that will include peer-review comments, for public access posting 12 months after the final publication date. This will ensure that you will have responded fully to the NIH request policy. There will be no need for you to post your manuscript directly to PubMed Central, and any such posting is prohibited (although Elsevier will not request that manuscripts authored and posted by US government employees should be taken down from PubMed Central). Individual modifications to this general policy may apply to some Elsevier journals and its society publishing partners.

Editors

K.R. Matthews University of Edinburgh, Institute of Immunology and Infection Research, School of Biological Sciences, Ashworth Laboratories, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JT., Email: keith.matthews@ed.ac.uk


M. Parsons Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, 307 Westlake Avenue, N, Suite 500, Seattle, WA 98109-5219, USA., Email: marilyn.parsons@sbri.org


A.P. Waters Department of Parasitology, L4-Q, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA Leiden, The Netherlands. Tel.: +31 71 5265069; Fax +31 71 52668907; E-mail: a.p.waters@lumc.nl


P.T. LoVerde, University of Texas, Departments of Biochemistry and Pathology, Mail Code 7760, Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas 78229-3900, USA, Email: loverde@uthscsa.edu


Reviews Editor

Alister Craig, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool L3 5QA, UK. Tel: +44 151 705 3161; Fax: +44 151 705 3371; E-mail:agcraig@liverpool.ac.uk