- Plasmodium pifanoi
"Plasmodium pifanoi" is a parasite of the genus "
Plasmodium " subgenus "Paraplasmodium ".Like all "Plasmodium" species "P. pifanoi" has both
vertebrate andinsect hosts. The vertebrate hosts for this parasite arelizard s.Taxobox
color = khaki
name = "Plasmodium pifanoi"
image_caption =
image_width =
regnum =Protista
phylum =Apicomplexa
classis =Aconoidasida
ordo =Haemosporida
familia =Plasmodiidae
genus = "Plasmodium "
species = "P. pifanoi"
binomial = "Plasmodium pifanoi"Description
This species was first described by Scorza and Dagert in
1956 . It was redescribed in2003 by Telford. Telford S. R. Jr., Telford S.R. III (2003) Rediscovery and redescription of "Plasmodium pifanoi" and description of two additional "Plasmodium" parasites of Venezuelan lizards. J. Parasitol. 89(2) 362–368 ]The asexual stages are irregular in shape and do not have a vacuole.
Schizonts measure 6.2 × 4.5 micrometres (range: 4 – 8 × 3 – 6) and produce on average 11.9 (range: 7 – 16) merozoites.
Gametocytes average 12.4 × 6.0 micrometres (range: 8 – 16 × 4 – 10). The average length × width product is 72.9 (range: 52 – 112) and the average length / width ratio is 2.18 (range: 1.1 – 3.3). The gametocytes always contain 1 – 5 prominent
vacuole s.Macrogametocytes during active infection are longer thanmicrogametocytes with a greater length-width product. Gametocytes in chronic infection are slightly smaller and are not sexually dimorphic in their dimensions.Geographical occurrence
Found in
Venezuela ,South America .Clinical features and host pathology
Known hosts are the lizards "
Ameiva ameiva " and "Kentropyx calcarata "References
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