Life Cycle:
Man: Asexual phase: Liver schizogony. Multiple fission forming Merozoites.
Erythrocytic schizogony: Second phase in RBCs. Forms gametocytes at the end.
Mosquito: Sexual cycle.
Gametogony: production and fusion of gametes.
Sporogony: Post zygotic multiplication, resulting in formation of infective individuals.
| During a blood meal, a malaria-infected female Anopheles mosquito inoculates sporozoites into the human host. Sporozoites infect liver cells and mature into schizonts. Schizonts rupture and release merozoites. Merozoites infect red blood cells. Parasites undergo asexual multiplication in the erythrocytes (erythrocytic schizogony). Infected RBCs mature into schizonts, which rupture releasing merozoites. Some parasites differentiate into sexual erythrocytic stages (gametocytes). Gametocytes: male (microgametocytes) and female (macrogametocytes), are ingested by an Anopheles mosquito during a blood meal. | Parasites’ multiplication in the mosquito is known as the sporogonic cycle. While in the mosquito’s stomach, the microgametes penetrate the macrogametes generating zygotes. Zygotes becomes motile and elongated (ookinetes). Ookinetes invade the midgut wall of the mosquito where they develop into oocysts. Oocysts grow, rupture, and release sporozoites. Make their way to the mosquito’s salivary glands. Inoculation of the sporozoites into a new human host perpetuates the malaria life cycle. |