sporozoite
/ˌspɒrə(ʊ)ˈzəʊʌɪt
/ /ˌspɔːrə(ʊ)ˈzəʊʌɪt/noun Zoology & Medicine
A motile spore-like stage in the life cycle of some parasitic sporozoans (e.g. the malaria organism), which is typically the infective agent introduced into a host.Tissue damage to the host's liver, kidney, spleen, lungs, or other organs can occur when the vector injects sporozoites that enter host cells to develop into meronts....
- The sporozoites released from the oocyst reproduce asexually within cells, producing merozoites that burst from those cells, each to infect a new cell.
- Meiotic division then gives rise to haploid cells that develop into infective sporozoites, which migrate to the mosquito salivary glands and infect humans during mosquito blood-feeding.
Origin
Late 19th century: from sporo- 'relating to spores' + Greek zoion 'animal' + -ite1.