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Apicomplexans and Malaria Mechanism

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Apicomplexans are alveolates defined by an apical complex specialized for entering host cells; every apicomplexan is parasitic, including Plasmodium, which causes malaria.

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Plasmodium cycles between a mosquito vector and a vertebrate host, infecting liver cells, then bursting from red blood cells each round.

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The apical complex aids invasion, not photosynthesis; apicomplexans separately carry the apicoplast, a non-photosynthetic plastid remnant evidencing photosynthetic ancestry.

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