A motile, infective stage of plasmodium, injected into the bloodstream by mosquitoes.
One of the many cells formed as a result of sporogony during the life cyle of a sporozoan. In Plasmodium sporozoites are formed by repeated divisions of the contents of the oocyst inside the body of the mosquito. The released sporozoites ultimately pass into the insect’s salivary glands and await transmission to a human host at the next blood meal.
Sporozoites is one cell type of the many that are formed during the lifecycle of sporozoa. In the case of malaria, sporozoites pass into the salivary glands of the mosquito and and are the infecting agent of the human host when the insect next feeds on human blood.
An elongated sickle-shaped cell that develops from a sporoblast within the oocyst in the life cycle of malaria. Upon bursting of the oocyst within a mosquito, sporozoites are released into the body cavity and make their way to the salivary gland. They are introduced into human blood by a mosquito and almost immediately enter liver cells, where they go through two schizogonic divisions and then reenter the bloodstream and infect erythrocytes.