PLASMODIUM VIVAX

(MALARIAL PARASITE)
 PLASMODIUM VIVAX (MALARIAL
PARASITE)
• Plasmodium is an important protozoan
intracellular haemo-parasite of man
• Belongs to class Sporozoa which is also known
as malarial parasite
• There are four different species of malarial
parasites concerned to human health.
• They are Plasmodium vivax, P. malariae, P.
falciperum and P. ovalae.
 Systematic position
• Kingdom- Protista
• Phylum- Protozoa
• Class – Sporozoa
• Order – Eucoccida
• Family – Plasmodidae
• Genus – Plasmodium
• Species - vivax
 Habits and Habitat
• Plasmodium is intracellular haemo-parasite
causing malaria and is widely spread in tropical
and warmer countries of the world.
• As it is digenetic parasite, it lives in two main
hosts i.e.
• Human as secondary host in which it reproduce
asexually and
• Mosquito as primary host in which it reproduces
sexually.
• It lives in RBC and liver of man but lives in
stomach and salivary gland of mosquito.
 Structure
• It exhibit dimorphic form i.e. trophozoite
stage found in RBCs of human is feeding stage
and
• Sporozoite stage found in mosquito is
infective stage.
 Trophozoite
• Fully grown feeding stage of plasmodium found in
human RBC
• Round or amoboid in shape covered with
plasmalemma and 1.25µm in diameter
• Cytoplasm is vacuolated and is not differentiated
into ecto and endoplasm
• Large nucleus, golgi body, endoplasmic reticulum
and few mitochondria are found scattered in
cytoplasm
• Cytoplasm also contain food vacuole having
haemozoin
 Sporozoite
• Infective stage of plasmodium
• Small, spindle shaped slightly curved or sickle
shaped and uninucleate stage
• Measuring about 10-12µm in length and
0.5µm in bredth
• Exhibit wriggling movement
 Life cycle of plasmodium
• Completed in two host so they are called
digenetic parasite
• Sexual cycle completes in female anopheles so
they are called primary host or definitive host
• Asexual cycle completes in vertebrate host so
they are termed as secondary or intermediate
host
LIFE CYCLE IN MAN (ASEXUAL CYCLE):
• When an infected female Anopheles mosquito
bites a man to suck blood, it injects saliva-
containing sporozoites.
• The sporozoites are unicellular, uninucleate,
and spherical and slightly curved stage of the
Plasmodium.
• The sporozoites after inoculation into the
body circulate for about ½ an hour in the
blood and reach to the liver.
PRE-ERYTHROCYTIC SCHYZOGONY
• In liver the sporozoites start to penetrate the liver
cells.
• Within the liver cell they become large and
spherical in shape.
• This structure is called as Schizont.
• The Schizont undergoes multiple divisions to
produce many spindle shaped structure called
cryptozoites.
• The process up to the formation of cryptozoites is
called pre-erythrocytic schyzogony.
EXO-ERYTHROCYTIC SCHYZOGONY
• Now cryptozoite infects the new liver cells and
penetrates into the cells.
• Within the cell, it becomes large and spherical in shape
and called as schizont.
• The schizont undergoes multiple fission to produce
many spindle shape structures called
metacryptozoites.
• Some metacryptozoites again infect the new liver cells
and repeat the same cycle.
• The process from infection of new liver cell to the
formation of metacryptozoites is termed as exo-
erythrocytic schizogony
 ERYTHROCYTIC SCHYZOGONY
• Some metacryptozoites divide and form two types of
cryptozoites, one type of cryptozoites are larger and called
macro-metacryptozoites and another are smaller called
micro-metacryptozoites.
• Now micro-metacryptozoites infect the RBC, within which it
becomes large and spherical in shape.
• This structure is called trophoizoite.
• Within trophozoites large vacuole is formed and nucleus of
its move at a side giving ring like structure known as signet
ring stage.
• Now vacuole breaks into small vacuole and the nucleus
appear at centre and shape of the cell becomes irregular
like amoeba. This stage is called amoeboid stage.
• In amoeboid stage, haemoglobin of RBC is broken into hematin and globin
protein.
• The globin protein is used by cell and hematin gets converted into
haemozoin which is toxic.
• At this stage in the cytoplasm of RBC, small granules are present called
Schuffner's granules.
• Now the amoeboid form changes into spherical shaped stage called
Schizont or mature trophozoite.
• Now the schizont again divides to produces many spindle shaped
merozoites.
• This cycle is called erythrocytic schizogony.
• As the merozoites get released with the rupture of RBC the toxic
haemozoin comes in blood circulation, due to which the victim fells
malarial fever.
• Some merozoites again infect the RBC and new liver cells and repeat the
same cycle. This cycle is called post erythrocytic schizogony.
 LIFE CYCLE IN MOSQUITO (SEXUAL
CYCLE)
• Some of the merozoites infect the RBC but do not repeat the same
cycle. The merozoites now show dimorphic forms i.e. smaller motile
micro-gametocyte and larger macro-gametocyte. These forms are
resistant type. Now when mosquito bites infected man both
gametocytes are sucked through the blood and they reach to the
stomach of the mosquito.
• In stomach of the mosquito, macro-gametocyte produces ovum by
the process of oogenesis and micro-gametocyte produces six to
eight flagellate male gametes by the process of ex-flagellation.
Now one of the male gamete fertilizes ovum through its fertilization
cone as a result diploid zygote is formed.
• The cycle from the formation of gametocytes to the formation of
zygote is called sexual cycle.
 ASEXUAL CYCLE IN MOSQUITO
• The zygote in the stomach of mosquito show movement and becomes elongated
called ookinete.
• The ookinete bore through the inner wall of stomach and come to lie under the
basement membrane of stomach.
• At this stage, ookinete becomes thick walled covered by a cyst now called as
oocyst.
• The oocyst becomes large thick walled and nucleus undergoes multiple divisions to
produce number of nuclei. Within oocyst groups of cytoplasm having many nuclei
are formed called sporoblast.
• The sporoblast gets ruptured and number of spindle shaped structures come out
which are called sporozoites.
• These sporozoites move towards salivary gland of mosquito so the mosquito
becomes infective.
• Now when this infected mosquito bites to suck blood from new individual,
sporozoites gets inoculated in his/her body and thus the cycle is repeated.
• The process from the formation of zygote to the formation of sporozoites is called
sporogony.
 PREVENTION AND CONTROL
MEASURES OF MOSQUITOES
• Use anti-mosquito cream or oil, anti-mosquito coil or
mat.
• Screening in door and windows by wire nets and use
mosquito bed nets during sleeping.
• Removing bushes and water from the surrounding.
• Spreading of kerosene oil in polluted water.
• DDT or insecticide should be sprayed.
• Mosquito larva eating fishes like stickle-back, trout,
minnows, Gambusia etc. should be introduced in the
water.