plasmodium
/plazˈməʊdɪəm
/noun (plural plasmodia /plazˈməʊdɪə/)
1A parasitic protozoan of a genus which includes those causing malaria.
- Genus Plasmodium, phylum Sporozoa.
- Malaria is a serious illness transmitted by the ‘bite’ of the female Anopheles mosquito which has parasitic protozoa of the genus plasmodium falciparum, plasmodium malariae, plasmodium vivax.
- Coluzzi's research indicates that the most serious type of malaria (known as plasmodium falciparum) reached Rome at about the time of Christ.
2 Biology A form within the life cycle of some simple organisms such as slime moulds, typically consisting of a mass of protoplasm containing many nuclei.The haploid myxamoebae act as isogametes; individuals of different mating types pair and fuse to form diploid zygotes that develop into macroscopic, diploid plasmodia after repeated mitotic cycles without cell division....
- P. polycephalum is a protist that in the course of its life cycle forms multinuclear giant single cells, so-called plasmodia that can be grown to almost any desired size.
- The life cycle of Physarum includes two distinct vegetative forms: the haploid amoeba and the diploid plasmodium.
Derivatives
plasmodial
- In fungi, plasmodial slime mold displays a diploid life history.
- Note that the life cycle of the wild type usually is diploid and mating of two haploid amoebae then is a prerequisite for plasmodial development and allows genetic analyses.
- This channel, the plasmodial erythrocyte surface anion channel, is present at 1000-2000 functional copies/cell and is absent from uninfected RBCs.
Origin
Late 19th century: modern Latin, based on late Latin plasma 'mould, formation'.