| Haemocystidium | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Chromista |
| Subkingdom: | Harosa |
| Infrakingdom: | Halvaria |
| Superphylum: | Alveolata |
| Phylum: | Apicomplexa |
| Class: | Aconoidasida |
| Order: | Chromatorida |
| Suborder: | Laveraniina |
| Family: | Haemoproteidae |
| Genus: | Haemocystidium Castellani and Willey, 1904 |
| Species | |
Haemocystidium is a genus of parasitic alveolates belonging to the phylum Apicomplexia.
The genus Haemocystidium was created to give a name to the haemoproteid of a gecko belonging to the genus Hemidactylus in Sri Lanka by Castellani and Willey in 1904. A second species in this genus was described in 1909 by Johnston and Cleland who found pigmented gametocytes in the blood of the Australian tortoise Chelodina longicollis . These species were transferred to Haemoproteus in 1926 by Wenyon.
The genus was resurrected by Garnham in 1966 when he created a new generic name - Simondia - for the haemoproteids of chelonians. He followed the opinions of Wenyon, Hewitt and DeGiusti and suggested that all these parasites belonged to the one species - Simondia metchnikovi . He retained the name Haemocystidium for the haemoproteids of lizards.
Levine and Campbell in 1971 moved all the species in Simondia and Haemocystidium into Haemoproteus an opinion that was followed by subsequent authors.
The genus Haemocystidium was resurrected again by Telford in 1996 when he described three new species of protozoa in geckos from Pakistan. [1]
The haemosporidians found in reptiles have been classified into several families; Haemoproteidae, genera Haemoproteus sp. and Haemocystidium [2]
This genus like those of many protozoa may be further modified once additional DNA sequences are available.
Haemocystidium is distinguished from Plasmodium by the absence of an asexual cycle in circulating blood cells
It is distinguished from Haemoproteus by meronts that do not form as pseudocytomeres.
Plasmodium is a genus of unicellular eukaryotes that are obligate parasites of vertebrates and insects. The life cycles of Plasmodium species involve development in a blood-feeding insect host which then injects parasites into a vertebrate host during a blood meal. Parasites grow within a vertebrate body tissue before entering the bloodstream to infect red blood cells. The ensuing destruction of host red blood cells can result in malaria. During this infection, some parasites are picked up by a blood-feeding insect, continuing the life cycle.
Babesia, also called Nuttallia, is an apicomplexan parasite that infects red blood cells and is transmitted by ticks. Originally discovered by the Romanian bacteriologist Victor Babeș in 1888, over 100 species of Babesia have since been identified.
Plasmodium sasai is a parasite of the genus Plasmodium subgenus Sauramoeba.
Leucocytozoon is a genus of parasitic alveolates belonging to the phylum Apicomplexa.
Plasmodium lionatum is a species of apicomplexan parasite in the family Plasmodiidae. Like all Plasmodium species P. lionatum has both vertebrate and insect hosts. The vertebrate hosts for this parasite are lizards.
Avian malaria is a parasitic disease of birds, caused by parasite species belonging to the genera Plasmodium and Hemoproteus. The disease is transmitted by a dipteran vector including mosquitoes in the case of Plasmodium parasites and biting midges for Hemoproteus. The range of symptoms and effects of the parasite on its bird hosts is very wide, from asymptomatic cases to drastic population declines due to the disease, as is the case of the Hawaiian honeycreepers. The diversity of parasites is large, as it is estimated that there are approximately as many parasites as there are species of hosts. Co-speciation and host switching events have contributed to the broad range of hosts that these parasites can infect, causing avian malaria to be a widespread global disease, found everywhere except Antarctica.
Plasmodium iguanae is a parasite of the genus Plasmodium.
Haemoproteus is a genus of alveolates that are parasitic in birds, reptiles and amphibians. Its name is derived from Greek: Haima, "blood", and Proteus, a sea god who had the power of assuming different shapes. The name Haemoproteus was first used in the description of Haemoproteus columbae in the blood of the pigeon Columba livia by Kruse in 1890. This was also the first description of this genus. Two other genera — Halteridium and Simondia — are now considered to be synonyms of Haemoproteus.
Adeleorina is a suborder of parasites in the phylum Apicomplexa.
The Haemosporida are an order of intraerythrocytic parasitic alveolates.
Acroeimeria is a genus of parasites that contains those species which initially develop immediately beneath the brush-border of the intestinal epithelium, but the meronts and gamonts of which are early on extruded to form a layer on the surface of the gut mucosa. Morphologically they are similar to the Eimeria to which they are closely related. The genus was described in 1989 by Paperna and Landsberg.
The genus Polychromophilus consists of obligate intracellular eukaryotic parasites that infect bats from every continent except Antarctica. They are transmitted by bat flies, which act as an insect vector as well as the parasite’s site of sporogeny. Polychromophilus follows a fairly typical Haemospororidian lifecycle, with gametocytes and gametes restricted to the bloodstream of the host and meronts infecting organs – most notably the lungs and the liver. The type species is Polychromophilus melanipherus, and was described by Dionisi in 1898.
Haemosporidiasina (Haemosporidia) is a subclass of apicomplexans described by Jacques Euzéby in 1988. The taxon is very similar to Aconoidasida.
Achromatorida is an order of non-pigmented intraerythrocytic parasitic alveolates belonging to the subclass Haemosporidiasina. The order was created by Jacques Euzéby in 1988.
The Haemoproteidae are a family of parasitic alveolates in the phylum Apicomplexa.
The genus Schellackia comprises obligate unicellular eukaryotic parasites within the phylum Apicomplexa, and infects numerous species of lizards and amphibians worldwide. Schellackia is transmitted via insect vectors, primarily mites and mosquitoes, which take up the parasite in blood meals. These vectors then subsequently infect reptilian and amphibian which consume the infected insects. The parasites deform erythrocytes of the host into crescents, and can be visualised using a blood smear.
Vasily Iakovlevich Danilewsky was a Ukrainian-born Russian physician, physiologist and parasitologist. He was professor of physiology at University of Kharkiv and then at Kharkiv Medical Institute. He helped to establish the Danilevsky Institute of Endocrine Pathology Problems which he directed until his death.
Haemoproteus concavocentralis is a parasite first found in the hawfinch in Bulgaria. The species can be distinguished from other avian haemoproteids due to an unfilled concave space between the central part of its advanced gametocytes and erythrocyte nucleus.
Plasmodium caucasica is a parasite of the genus Plasmodium subgenus Sauramoeba. As in all Plasmodium species, P. caucasica has both vertebrate and insect hosts. The vertebrate hosts for this parasite are reptiles.