''Plasmodium pifanoi'' is a parasite of the genus ''

Plasmodium ''Plasmodium'' is a genus of unicellular eukaryotes that are obligate parasites of vertebrates and insects. The life cycles of ''Plasmodium'' species involve development in a blood-feeding insect host which then injects parasites into a vert ...

'' subgenus ''

Paraplasmodium ''Paraplasmodium'' is a subgenus of the genus ''Plasmodium'' - all of which are parasitic eukaryotes. The subgenus was created by Telford in 1988. Species in this subgenus infect lizards. Species *''Plasmodium chiricahuae'' *''Plasmodium mexic ...

''. As in all ''Plasmodium'' species, ''P. pifanoi'' has both

vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, ...

and

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

hosts. The vertebrate hosts for this parasite are

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Scorza and Dagert in 1956. It was redescribed in 2003 by Telford.Telford S. R. Jr., Telford S.R. III (2003) Rediscovery and redescription of ''Plasmodium pifanoi'' and description of two additional ''Plasmodium'' parasites of Venezuelan lizards. J. Parasitol. 89(2) 362–368

Description

The asexual stages are irregular in shape and do not have a vacuole. Schizonts measure 6.2 × 4.5 micrometres (range: 4 – 8 × 3 – 6) and produce on average 11.9 (range: 7 – 16) merozoites. Gametocytes average 12.4 × 6.0 micrometres (range: 8 – 16 × 4 – 10). The average length × width product is 72.9 (range: 52 – 112) and the average length / width ratio is 2.18 (range: 1.1 – 3.3). The gametocytes always contain 1 – 5 prominent

vacuole A vacuole () is a membrane-bound organelle which is present in plant and fungal cells and some protist, animal, and bacterial cells. Vacuoles are essentially enclosed compartments which are filled with water containing inorganic and organic mo ...

s. Macrogametocytes during active infection are longer than microgametocytes with a greater length-width product. Gametocytes in chronic infection are slightly smaller and are not sexually dimorphic in their dimensions.

Distribution

Found in Venezuela, South America.

Hosts

Known hosts are the lizards ''

Ameiva ameiva ''Ameiva ameiva'', also known as the giant ameiva, green ameiva, South American ground lizard, or Amazon racerunner, is a species of lizard in the family Teiidae found in Central America, Central, South America, and some Caribbean Islands. Geogr ...

'' and '' Kentropyx calcarata''.

References

pifanoi {{plasmodium-stub