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Fine Structure of Exoerythrocytic Merozoite Formation of Plasmodium berghei in Rat Liver 1
Author(s) -
MEIS JACQUES F. G. M.,
VERHAVE JAN PETER,
JAP PAUL H. K.,
MEUWISSEN JOSEPH H. E. T.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
the journal of protozoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.067
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1550-7408
pISSN - 0022-3921
DOI - 10.1111/j.1550-7408.1985.tb03104.x
Subject(s) - plasmodium berghei , plasmodium (life cycle) , biology , virology , microbiology and biotechnology , malaria , chemistry , immunology , computer science , parasite hosting , world wide web
The fine structure of exoerythrocytic merogony of Plasmodium berghei was studied after perfusion‐fixation of rat livers from 51 h post‐inoculation onwards. Meroblast formation was effected by clefts originating from the parasite plasmalemma and by fusion of vacuoles with each other. Invaginations at the periphery resulted in labyrinthine structures providing the parasites with an enormous increase in surface area, which might facilitate exchange of metabolites. When the parasitophorous vacuole membrane collapsed, the newly formed merozoites were lying free in the hepatocytic cytoplasm, which degenerated until the merozoites were sticking together by a stroma, obviously a remnant of the host hepatocyte. Groups of merozoites, still kept together by the spongy stroma, were subsequently released in the bloodstream. At 53 h most of the developmental stages leading to the release of merozoites could be found and thereafter parasite numbers decreased while large granulomas became apparent.