Description

I am a protist that invades the human body and multiplies. I exist as a cause of malaria for humans in five different species: P. falciparum, P. ovale, P. malariae, P. knowlesi, P. vivax. These species differ in some ways, but they all have the same complex life cycle.


I appear in three different forms: merozoite, ookinete and sporozoite. I change forms at different stages of my life. Merozoites are oval shaped and have a single nucleus, a mitochondrion and some ribosomes. They also have rhoptries (in red). Ookinetes are zygotes that are elongated. They also have a nucleus but lack rhoptries. Sporozoites are much longer than merozoites but have similar structures.


I have a nucleus and I lack cilia and flagella so to move, I glide. I am able to enter host cells and live in the cytoplasm of this cell.