Apicomplexa
A phylum of unicellular parasitic EUKARYOTES characterized by the presence of complex apical organelles generally consisting of a conoid that aids in penetrating host cells, rhoptries that possibly secrete a proteolytic enzyme, and subpellicular microtubules that may be related to motility.
Eimeriidae
A large family of parasites in the order EIMERIIDA. They cause COCCIDIOSIS in a number of vertebrates including humans.
Eimeria
Toxoplasma
A genus of protozoa parasitic to birds and mammals. T. gondii is one of the most common infectious pathogenic animal parasites of man.
Alveolata
Isospora
A genus of protozoan parasites found in the intestines of birds, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals, including man. The oocysts produce two sporocysts, each with four sporozoites. Many species are parasitic in wild and domestic animals.
Coccidiosis
Protozoan infection found in animals and man. It is caused by several different genera of COCCIDIA.
Oocysts
Zygote-containing cysts of sporozoan protozoa. Further development in an oocyst produces small individual infective organisms called SPOROZOITES. Then, depending on the genus, the entire oocyst is called a sporocyst or the oocyst contains multiple sporocysts encapsulating the sporozoites.
Sarcocystidae
A family of parasitic organisms in the order EIMERIIDAE. They form tissue-cysts in their intermediate hosts, ultimately leading to pathogenesis in the final hosts that includes various mammals (including humans) and birds. The most important genera include NEOSPORA; SARCOCYSTIS; and TOXOPLASMA.
Protozoan Infections
Plasmodium
A genus of protozoa that comprise the malaria parasites of mammals. Four species infect humans (although occasional infections with primate malarias may occur). These are PLASMODIUM FALCIPARUM; PLASMODIUM MALARIAE; PLASMODIUM OVALE, and PLASMODIUM VIVAX. Species causing infection in vertebrates other than man include: PLASMODIUM BERGHEI; PLASMODIUM CHABAUDI; P. vinckei, and PLASMODIUM YOELII in rodents; P. brasilianum, PLASMODIUM CYNOMOLGI; and PLASMODIUM KNOWLESI in monkeys; and PLASMODIUM GALLINACEUM in chickens.
Haemosporida
Coccidia
Host-Parasite Interactions
The relationship between an invertebrate and another organism (the host), one of which lives at the expense of the other. Traditionally excluded from definition of parasites are pathogenic BACTERIA; FUNGI; VIRUSES; and PLANTS; though they may live parasitically.
Oligochaeta
Cryptosporidium
A genus of coccidian parasites of the family CRYPTOSPORIDIIDAE, found in the intestinal epithelium of many vertebrates including humans.
Theileria
Cryptosporidium parvum
A species of parasitic protozoa that infects humans and most domestic mammals. Its oocysts measure five microns in diameter. These organisms exhibit alternating cycles of sexual and asexual reproduction.
Plastids
Self-replicating cytoplasmic organelles of plant and algal cells that contain pigments and may synthesize and accumulate various substances. PLASTID GENOMES are used in phylogenetic studies.
Spores, Protozoan
Sporozoites
Parasites
Invertebrate organisms that live on or in another organism (the host), and benefit at the expense of the other. Traditionally excluded from definition of parasites are pathogenic BACTERIA; FUNGI; VIRUSES; and PLANTS; though they may live parasitically.
Toxoplasmosis
The acquired form of infection by Toxoplasma gondii in animals and man.
Organelles
Specific particles of membrane-bound organized living substances present in eukaryotic cells, such as the MITOCHONDRIA; the GOLGI APPARATUS; ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM; LYSOSOMES; PLASTIDS; and VACUOLES.
Octopodiformes
Neospora
A genus of protozoan parasites of the subclass COCCIDIA. Its species are parasitic in dogs, cattle, goats, and sheep, among others. N. caninum, a species that mainly infects dogs, is intracellular in neural and other cells of the body, multiplies by endodyogeny, has no parasitophorous vacuole, and has numerous rhoptries. It is known to cause lesions in many tissues, especially the brain and spinal cord as well as abortion in the expectant mother.
Eukaryota
One of the three domains of life (the others being BACTERIA and ARCHAEA), also called Eukarya. These are organisms whose cells are enclosed in membranes and possess a nucleus. They comprise almost all multicellular and many unicellular organisms, and are traditionally divided into groups (sometimes called kingdoms) including ANIMALS; PLANTS; FUNGI; and various algae and other taxa that were previously part of the old kingdom Protista.
Plasmodium falciparum
Microscopy, Interference
The science and application of a double-beam transmission interference microscope in which the illuminating light beam is split into two paths. One beam passes through the specimen while the other beam reflects off a reference mirror before joining and interfering with the other. The observed optical path difference between the two beams can be measured and used to discriminate minute differences in thickness and refraction of non-stained transparent specimens, such as living cells in culture.
Babesia
A genus of tick-borne protozoan parasites that infests the red blood cells of mammals, including humans. There are many recognized species, and the distribution is world-wide.