BIOL 134 Lecture Notes - Lecture 39: Suction Cup, Apicomplexan Life Cycle, Sexual Reproduction
Document Summary
First described by van leeuwenhoek in 1681. Specialized structure: a suction cup to allow it to stick to the intestinal wall. Dormant, hardy cyst form in the environment. Cysts ingested from fecal contaminated food, or water. Can be passed from human to human. Cysts mature into trophozoites and colonize the small intestine: non-invasive. Difficult to spot, and not all stool samples have any. Swallow gelatin capsule with a string tied to it. Giardia cysts are resistant to chlorine and ozone. One of the most common infectious diseases in the world. Caused by various species of a protozoan, plasmodium. Small parasitic protozoan with multiple developmental stages. 4 strains can infect humans, with varying degrees of severity. Sexual and asexual reproduction, depending on the host. Mosquito bite will pick up sexual cells. Due to release of toxic metabolic byproducts with each cycle. Fever (103-106), nausea, fatigue, joint pain, headache, chills, sweating. For 3 of the 4 strains, usually self-limiting and non-fatal.
