Apicomplexia
Apicomplexia
Glilding motility, asexual reproduction and sexual reproduction
Intestine (small): cryptosporidium spp., Isospora belli, Cyclospora
Blood, RBC: plasmodium spp.
Tissue (brain, muscle): toxoplasma gondii
Obligate intracellular protozoa: (cannot reproduce outside their host cell, therefore production entirely reliant on intracellular resources)
Apicomplexans (sporozoans):
Plasmodium spp, Toxoplasma gondii, Cryptosporidium pavum, Babesia
Infectious stages:
Sporozoite (sporos, seed + zoon, animal): cell form that infects new hosts. Motile and move by gliding
Merozoite (meros, part of a series + zoon, animal): result of asexual reproduction (merogony) that takes place in the host cell. Merozoites are motile.
Trophozoite (trophe, nourishment + zoon, animal): activated feeding stage in the life cycle of certain protozoa e.g. P. falciparum (intracellular)
Hypnozoite (hypnos, sleep + zoon, animal): quiescent parasite stage, known for latency and relapse e.g. P. ovale and vivax
Gametocyte (gametes, partner + kytos, cell): parasites gamete-forming cells (M/F)