Biology / Unit 9 Bio 2007 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Apicomplexans and Malaria Mechanism
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The idea
Apicomplexans are alveolates defined by an apical complex specialized for entering host cells; every apicomplexan is parasitic, including Plasmodium, which causes malaria.
In practice
Plasmodium cycles between a mosquito vector and a vertebrate host, infecting liver cells, then bursting from red blood cells each round.
Where people slip
The apical complex aids invasion, not photosynthesis; apicomplexans separately carry the apicoplast, a non-photosynthetic plastid remnant evidencing photosynthetic ancestry.
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