| Biology Quiz A Q4
On completion of their growth and maturation as trophozoites, a proportion of parasites mature into the sexual (gametocyte) stage that will be concluded within the gut of the mosquito. The stage may form male or female forms which have different size.
| Explanation of correct answer (click "Expand")
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Short answer taken from section "Gametocyte Biology" (see the section for full details and links).
A proportion of mature trophozoites give rise to the sexual gametocyte form, contained within ghost red cells (they have metabolised all haemoglobin in order to grow) - The red cell is therefore now simply a membrane that surrounds the parasite without any red colour, but generally retains any cytoplasmic dots typical of the species. Malaria pigment that represents the metabolised haem iron is prominent with different distributions that reflect the species. The appearance of gametocytes does vary according to species and this can aid morphological species identification with red cell appearances typical of the species, and (in the case of P.falciparum a distinctive straight or curved rod shape.
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