Plasmodia life cycle. (A) The asexual life cycle begins when sporozoites from a female mosquito taking a blood meal enter the circulation and invade hepatocytes. (B) Up to 10 000 merozoites are formed. Following rupture of the hepatocyte, infective merozoites are released and invade erythrocytes (RBCs). (C) Within RBCs, the parasite develops through the stages of rings, trophozoites, and schizonts. Mature schizonts burst to release erythrocytic merozoites that invade new RBCs. (D) A small proportion of merozoites in RBCs transform into male and female gametocytes that are ingested by the mosquito. (E) The male and female gametes fuse and transform into an öocyst that divides asexually into many sporozoites that migrate to the salivary glands from where they are released during the next blood meal. Reproduced from Ocana-Morgher et al13 with permission.
