The Apicomplexa are organisms of a large phylum of mainly parasitic alveolates. Most possess a unique form of organelle structure that comprises a type of (non-photosynthetic) plastid called an apicoplast—with an apical complex membrane. The organelle's apical shape is an adaptation that the apicomplexan applies in penetrating a host cell.
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.
Perkinsus is a genus of alveolates in the phylum Perkinsozoa. The genus was erected in 1978 to better treat its type species, Perkinsus marinus, known formerly as Dermocystidium marinum. These are parasitic protozoans that infect molluscs, at least some of which cause disease and mass mortality. P. marinus is the most notorious, causing the disease perkinsosis, or dermo, in wild and farmed oysters.
Plasmodium gallinaceum is a species of the genus Plasmodium that causes malaria in poultry.
Menoponidae is a monophyletic family of lice in the superfamily of chewing lice, Amblycera, often referred to as the chicken body louse family. They are ectoparasites of a wide range of birds including chickens, which makes them important to understand for veterinary science and for human health. However, Menoponidae are not exclusive to poultry and are common parasites for migratory birds, with more and more species being discovered every year.
Plasmodium brumpti is a parasite of the genus Plasmodium subgenus Sauramoeba. As in all Plasmodium species, P. brumpti has both vertebrate and insect hosts. The vertebrate hosts for this parasite are reptiles.
Plasmodium foleyi is a parasite of the genus Plasmodium subgenus Vinckeia. As in all Plasmodium species, P. foleyi has both vertebrate and insect hosts. The vertebrate hosts for this parasite are mammals.
Plasmodium lygosomae is a parasite of the genus Plasmodium subgenus Carinamoeba.
Leucocytozoon is a genus of parasitic alveolates belonging to the phylum Apicomplexa.
Hematozoa is a subclass of blood parasites of the Apicomplexa clade. Well known examples include the Plasmodium spp. which cause malaria in humans and Theileria which causes theileriosis in cattle. A large number of species are known to infect birds and are transmitted by insect vectors. The pattern in which Haematozoa infect a host cell depends on the genera of the blood parasite. Plasmodium and Leucozytozoon displace the nucleus of the host cell so that the parasite can take control of the cell where as Hemoproteus completely envelops the nucleus in a host cell.
Plasmodium juxtanucleare is a species of parasite in the family Plasmodiidae. The vertebrate hosts for this parasite are birds.
The Haemosporida are an order of intraerythrocytic parasitic alveolates.
Raillietina is a genus of tapeworms that includes helminth parasites of vertebrates, mostly of birds. The genus was named in 1920 in honour of a French veterinarian and helminthologist, Louis-Joseph Alcide Railliet. Of the 37 species recorded under the genus, Raillietina demerariensis, R. asiatica, and R. formsana are the only species reported from humans, while the rest are found in birds. R. echinobothrida, R. tetragona, and R. cesticillus are the most important species in terms of prevalence and pathogenicity among wild and domestic birds.
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 Garniidae are a family of parasites in the phylum Apicomplexia. Like many species in the Apicomplexia, all species in this family have two hosts in their lifecycles – one in a vertebrate and one in an invertebrate. The vertebrate hosts are reptiles or birds, but the invertebrate hosts are not known for many of the species.
Leucocytozoon caulleryi is a species of the genus Leucocytozoon, a genus of parasitic alveolates.
Vasily Lakovlevich Danilewsky was a Ukrainian 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.
Plasmodium lophurae is a parasite of the genus Plasmodium subgenus Giovannolaia.
Leucocytozoon grallariae is a parasite found in non-migratory highland passeriforms in the families Grallariidae and Cotingidae. The species was first described by Ingrid A. Lotta, Valkiūnas Gediminas, M. Andreína Pacheco, Ananías A. Escalante, Sandra Rocío Hernández and Nubia E. Matta in 2019. Leucocytozoon grallariae is spread throughout in the Andean mountain ranges normally in humid forests and scrublands of Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela.
