| Plasmodium polymorphum | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Clade: | SAR |
| Infrakingdom: | Alveolata |
| Phylum: | Apicomplexa |
| Class: | Aconoidasida |
| Order: | Haemospororida |
| Family: | Plasmodiidae |
| Genus: | Plasmodium |
| Species: | P. polymorphum |
| Binomial name | |
| Plasmodium polymorphum Zehtindjiev et al.[, 2012 | |
Plasmodium polymorphum is a malarial parasite of the genus Plasmodium . Currently its only known host is the Eurasian skylark, Alauda arvensis. [1]
This species was described by Zehtindjiev et al. [1]
This species shows a marked preference of its blood stages for immature erythrocytes, including erythroblasts. Uniquely for an avian malaria species development and maturation of the gametocytes occur in immature red blood cells. Also uniquely the margins of nuclei in blood stages of are markedly smooth and distinct.
It appears morphologically to be related to the Huffia subgenus but this has yet to be established.
This species was isolated in southern Italy. Because the host carries out an annual migration the parasite may also occur elsewhere.
Not known.
The Apicomplexa are a large phylum of parasitic alveolates. Most of them possess a unique form of organelle that comprises a type of plastid called an apicoplast, and an apical complex structure. The organelle is an adaptation that the apicomplexan applies in penetration of 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 disease, called malaria. During this infection, some parasites are picked up by a blood-feeding insect, continuing the life cycle.
Anopheles is a genus of mosquito first described and named by J. W. Meigen in 1818. About 460 species are recognised; while over 100 can transmit human malaria, only 30–40 commonly transmit parasites of the genus Plasmodium, which cause malaria in humans in endemic areas. Anopheles gambiae is one of the best known, because of its predominant role in the transmission of the most dangerous malaria parasite species – Plasmodium falciparum.
Plasmodium falciparum is a unicellular protozoan parasite of humans, and the deadliest species of Plasmodium that causes malaria in humans. The parasite is transmitted through the bite of a female Anopheles mosquito and causes the disease's most dangerous form, falciparum malaria. It is responsible for around 50% of all malaria cases. P. falciparum is therefore regarded as the deadliest parasite in humans. It is also associated with the development of blood cancer and is classified as Group 2A carcinogen.
A gametocyte is a eukaryotic germ cell that divides by mitosis into other gametocytes or by meiosis into gametids during gametogenesis. Male gametocytes are called spermatocytes, and female gametocytes are called oocytes.
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 protozoa 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 malarial infection. It 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 parasites.
Plasmodium knowlesi is a parasite that causes malaria in humans and other primates. It is found throughout Southeast Asia, and is the most common cause of human malaria in Malaysia. Like other Plasmodium species, P. knowlesi has a life cycle that requires infection of both a mosquito and a warm-blooded host. While the natural warm-blooded hosts of P. knowlesi are likely various Old World monkeys, humans can be infected by P. knowlesi if they are fed upon by infected mosquitoes. P. knowlesi is a eukaryote in the phylum Apicomplexa, genus Plasmodium, and subgenus Plasmodium. It is most closely related to the human parasite Plasmodium vivax as well as other Plasmodium species that infect non-human primates.
Plasmodium chabaudi is a parasite of the genus Plasmodium subgenus Vinckeia. As in all Plasmodium species, P. chabaudi has both vertebrate and insect hosts. The vertebrate hosts for this parasite are rodents.
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, over 100 species of Babesia have since been identified.
Giovanolaia is a subgenus of the genus Plasmodium created by Corradetti et al. in 1963. The parasites within this subgenus infect birds.
Novyella is a subgenus of the genus Plasmodium - all of which are parasites. The subgenus was created in 1963 by Corradetti et al.. Species in this subgenus infect birds. It unites the avian malaria parasites with small erythrocytic meronts and elongated gametocytes.
Plasmodium ashfordi is a species of the genus Plasmodium subgenus Papernaia.
Plasmodium colombiense is a parasite of the genus Plasmodium.
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.
Apicomplexans, a group of intracellular parasites, have life cycle stages evolved to 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.
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. 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.
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