| Plasmodium fallax | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Clade: | Diaphoretickes |
| Clade: | SAR |
| Clade: | Alveolata |
| Phylum: | Apicomplexa |
| Class: | Aconoidasida |
| Order: | Haemospororida |
| Family: | Plasmodiidae |
| Genus: | Plasmodium |
| Species: | P. fallax |
| Binomial name | |
| Plasmodium fallax Schwetz, 1930 | |
Plasmodium fallax is a parasite of the genus Plasmodium subgenus Giovannolaia .
Like all Plasmodium species P. fallax has both vertebrate and insect hosts. The vertebrate hosts for this parasite are birds.
The parasite was first described by Schwetz in 1930.
This species is found in Uganda, Africa.
In Uganda a vector has been identified - the mosquito Aedes albopictus .
Among its vertebrate hosts are the pygmy owl ( Glaucidium passerinum ), turkeys ( Meleagris species) and the helmeted guineafowl ( Numida meleagris ).
Plasmodium fallax has periods in which the parasite leaves its host cell and travels to find a new host cell. This is very risky because the parasite will become inactive and unable to invade a new cell if it does not quickly find a host. [1]
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.
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Plasmodium vivax is a protozoal parasite and a human pathogen. This parasite is the most frequent and widely distributed cause of recurring malaria. Although it is less virulent than Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest of the five human malaria parasites, P. vivax malaria infections can lead to severe disease and death, often due to splenomegaly. P. vivax is carried by the female Anopheles mosquito; the males do not bite.
Plasmodium ovale is a species of parasitic protozoon that causes tertian malaria in humans. It is one of several species of Plasmodium parasites that infect humans, including Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax which are responsible for most cases of malaria in the world. P. ovale is rare compared to these two parasites, and substantially less dangerous than P. falciparum.
Plasmodium malariae is a parasitic protozoan that causes malaria in humans. It is one of several species of Plasmodium parasites that infect other organisms as pathogens, also including Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax, responsible for most malarial infection. Found worldwide, it causes a so-called "benign malaria", not nearly as dangerous as that produced by P. falciparum or P. vivax. The signs include fevers that recur at approximately three-day intervals – a quartan fever or quartan malaria – longer than the two-day (tertian) intervals of the other malarial parasite.
Merozoitesurface proteins are both integral and peripheral membrane proteins found on the surface of a merozoite, an early life cycle stage of a protozoan. Merozoite surface proteins, or MSPs, are important in understanding malaria, a disease caused by protozoans of the genus Plasmodium. During the asexual blood stage of its life cycle, the malaria parasite enters red blood cells to replicate itself, causing the classic symptoms of malaria. These surface protein complexes are involved in many interactions of the parasite with red blood cells and are therefore an important topic of study for scientists aiming to combat malaria.
A blocking antibody is an antibody that does not have a reaction when combined with an antigen, but prevents other antibodies from combining with that antigen. This function of blocking antibodies has had a variety of clinical and experimental uses.
Giovanolaia is a subgenus of the genus Plasmodium created by Corradetti et al. in 1963. The parasites within this subgenus infect birds.
Plasmodium durae is a parasite of the genus Plasmodium subgenus Giovannolaia.
Plasmodium polare is a parasite of the genus Plasmodium subgenus Papernaia.
Plasmodium lygosomae is a parasite of the genus Plasmodium subgenus Carinamoeba.
Leucocytozoon is a genus of parasitic alveolates belonging to the phylum Apicomplexa.
Plasmodium basilisci is a parasite of the genus Plasmodium subgenus Carinamoeba.
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. As research on human malaria parasites became difficult, Dr. Ross studied avian malaria parasites. 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.
Apicomplexans, a group of intracellular parasites, have life cycle stages that allow them to survive the wide variety of environments they are exposed to during their complex life cycle. Each stage in the life cycle of an apicomplexan organism is typified by a cellular variety with a distinct morphology and biochemistry.
In molecular biology, Duffy binding proteins are found in Plasmodium. Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium knowlesi merozoites invade Homo sapiens erythrocytes that express Duffy blood group surface determinants. The Duffy receptor family is localised in micronemes, an organelle found in all organisms of the phylum Apicomplexa.
Plasmodium coatneyi is a parasitic species that is an agent of malaria in nonhuman primates. P. coatneyi occurs in Southeast Asia. The natural host of this species is the rhesus macaque and crab-eating macaque, but there has been no evidence that zoonosis of P. coatneyi can occur through its vector, the female Anopheles mosquito.
Plasmodium cynomolgi is an apicomplexan parasite that infects mosquitoes and Asian Old World monkeys. In recent years, a number of natural infections of humans have also been documented. This species has been used as a model for human Plasmodium vivax because Plasmodium cynomolgi shares the same life cycle and some important biological features with P. vivax.
Plasmodium brasilianum is a parasite that infects many species of platyrrhine monkeys in South and Central America.
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