Plasmodium
Genus of parasitic protists that can cause malaria
Plasmodium
Plasmodium is a genus of unicellular eukaryotes that are obligate parasites of vertebrates and insects such as mosquitoes in the genus Anopheles. 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 (often the liver) 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 (mosquitoes in majority cases), continuing the life cycle. Plasmodium is a member of the phylum Apicomplexa, a large group of parasitic eukaryotes. Within Apicomplexa, Plasmodium is in the order Haemosporida and family Plasmodiidae. Over 200 species of Plasmodium have been described, many of which have been subdivided into 14 subgenera based on parasite morphology and host range. Evolutionary relationships among different...
Read on Wikipedia · Image Image by Ute Frevert; false color by Margaret Shear., CC BY 2.5
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