What is the Plasmodium Parasite's Life Cycle?
Plasmodium is a genus of protozoan parasites that infect various species of vertebrates. There are about 150 species of plasmodium, four of which have been identified as human parasites. Plasmodium is the infectious agent that causes malaria in humans.
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Life Cycle Stages
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There are two distinct stages in the life cycle of plasmodium. The first involves a vertebrate host and the second involves a mosquito which acts as a vector for the disease.
The Vertebrate Stage: Initial Infection
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When a mosquito carrying the disease bites a host, sporozoites enter into the bloodstream. Then two phases within the vertebrate stage will occur; the liver phase and the blood phase.
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The Liver Phase
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Sporozoites migrate to the liver and infect cells, eventually maturing into encapsulated schizonts. These eventually become merozoites, which are released from the schizont and continue to multiply in the liver.
The Blood Phase
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Merozoites also infect red blood cells where they become trophozoites which mature into schizonts that will rupture, releasing more merozoites. Some trophozoites mature into gametocytes that will be ingested by a mosquito during a blood meal.
The Mosquito Stage -- Infection
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Within the mosquito, male and female gametocytes combine into zygotes. These mature into mobile ookinetes that move to the mosquito's midgut and develop into oocysts.
The Mosquito Stage - Transmission
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The oocysts then grow and rupture, releasing sporozoites which travel to the mosquito's salivary glands and wait until the mosquito bites a host, thereby transmitting them to a new host.
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