LIFE HISTORY OF A MALARIA PARASITE (PLASMODIUM MEXICANUM) IN ITS HOST, THE WESTERN FENCE LIZARD (SCELOPORUS OCCIDENTALIS): HOST TESTOSTERONE AS A SOURCE OF SEASONAL AND AMONG-HOST VARIATION?

2000 ◽  
Vol 86 (5) ◽  
pp. 1041-1045 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca J. Eisen ◽  
Dale F. DeNardo
1902 ◽  
Vol 70 (459-466) ◽  
pp. 74-79

I have found it necessary in labelling a series of models of the malaria parasite in the Central Hall of the Natural History Museum to use as simple and clear a terminology as possible. I think that this terminology will be found useful by others who are perplexed by such terms as “sporozoites,” “blasts,” “ookinetes,” “schizonts,” “amphionts,” and “sporonts”—terms which have their place in schemes dealing with the general morphology and life-history of the group Sporozoa, but are not, as experience shows, well suited for immediate use in describing and referring to the stages of the malaria parasite. It is necessary to treat the malaria parasite from the point of view of malaria; that is to say, to consider its significant phases to be those which it passes in the human blood. In reality its mature condition and most important motile, as well as its most prolific reproductive, phases are passed in the body of the mosquito.


Parasitology ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 135 (12) ◽  
pp. 1363-1372 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Vardo-ZALIK ◽  
J. J. Schall

SUMMARYBoth verbal and mathematical models of parasite virulence predict that genetic diversity of microparasite infections will influence the level of costs suffered by the host. We tested this idea by manipulating the number of co-existing clones ofPlasmodium mexicanumin its natural vertebrate host, the fence lizardSceloporus occidentalis. We established replicate infections ofP.mexicanummade up of 1, 2, 3, or >3 clones (scored using 3 microsatellite loci) to observe the influence of clone number on several measures of parasite virulence. Clonal diversity did not affect body growth or production of immature erythrocytes. Blood haemoglobin concentration was highest for the most genetically complex infections (equal to that of non-infected lizards), and blood glucose levels and rate of blood clotting was highest for the most diverse infections (with greater glucose and more rapid clotting than non-infected animals). Neither specific clones nor parasitaemia were associated with virulence. In this first experiment that manipulated the clonal diversity of a naturalPlasmodium-host system, the cost of infection with 1 or 2 clones ofP.mexicanumwas similar to that previously reported for infected lizards, but the most complex infections had either no cost or could be beneficial for the host.


Parasitologia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-33
Author(s):  
Romain Pigeault ◽  
Danaé Bataillard ◽  
Olivier Glaizot ◽  
Philippe Christe

Culex pipiens complexes play an important role in the transmission of a wide range of pathogens that infect humans, including viruses and filarial worms, as well as pathogens of wildlife, such as the avian malaria parasite (Plasmodium spp.). Numerous biotic and abiotic stresses influence vector-borne pathogen transmission directly, through changes in vector density, or indirectly by changing vector immunocompetence, lifespan, or reproductive potential. Among these stresses, mosquito exposure to sublethal doses of pesticides could have important consequences. In addition to being exposed to pollutants in aquatic breeding sites, mosquitoes can also be exposed to chemicals as adults through their diet (plant nectar). In this study, we explored the impact of mosquito exposure at the larval and adult stages to one of the most commonly used pesticides, imidacloprid, a chemical belonging to the class of the neonicotinoids, on a set of life history traits ranging from development time to fecundity. We also studied the impact of this pesticide on the susceptibility of mosquitoes to infection by the avian malaria parasite, Plasmodium relictum. Surprisingly, we observed no effects of imidacloprid on any of the parameters examined. This result highlights the fact that Culex pipiens mosquitoes do not appear to be susceptible to imidacloprid when exposure doses are close to those measured in the field.


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