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→Life cycle: primary lab study, not appropriate here Tag: Reverted |
→Life cycle: primary cell line study that shows it can infect in vitro; need a more WP:MEDRS source to place WP:DUE weight |
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In the [[Plasmodium#¬if cycle|life cycle]] of ''Plasmodium'', a female ''[[Anopheles]]'' mosquito (the [[host (biology)|definitive host]]) transmits a motile infective form (called the [[sporozoite]]) to a vertebrate host such as a human (the secondary host), thus acting as a transmission [[Vector (epidemiology)|vector]]. A sporozoite travels through the blood vessels to liver cells ([[hepatocyte]]s), where it reproduces [[asexual reproduction|asexually]] (tissue [[schizogony]]), producing thousands of [[merozoite]]s. These infect new red blood cells and initiate a series of asexual multiplication cycles (blood schizogony) that produce 8 to 24 new infective merozoites, at which point the cells burst and the infective cycle begins anew.<ref>{{harvnb|Schlagenhauf-Lawlor|2008|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=54Dza0UHyngC&pg=PA70 70–1]}}</ref>
Other merozoites develop into immature [[Gametocyte#Gametocytes and malaria|gametocytes]], which are the precursors of male and female [[gamete]]s. When a fertilised mosquito bites an infected person, gametocytes are taken up with the blood and mature in the mosquito gut. The male and female gametocytes fuse and form an [[ookinete]]—a fertilised, motile [[zygote]]. Ookinetes develop into new sporozoites that migrate to the insect's [[salivary gland]]s, ready to infect a new vertebrate host. The sporozoites are injected into the skin, in the saliva, when the mosquito takes a subsequent blood meal.<ref name="Cowman 2012"/>
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