Sexual Cycle

• Sexual Cycle (Sporogony)

  [Female Anopheles Mosquito: DH] (IS to Mosquito: Gametocyte)

  • Anopheles mosquito feeds on an infected person;
• Sexual Cycle

  • The gametocytes, male (microgametocytes) and female (macrogametocytes), are ingested by the Anopheles mosquito;
• Sexual Cycle

  • While in the mosquito's stomach, the microgametes penetrate the macrogametes generating zygotes.
• Sexual Cycle

  • The zygotes in turn become motile and elongated (ookinetes) which invade the midgut wall of the mosquito where they develop into oocysts.
• Sexual Cycle

  • The oocysts grow, rupture, and release sporozoites (infective stage), which make their way to the mosquito's salivary glands.
• Sexual Cycle

  • Inoculation of the sporozoites into a new human host perpetuates the malaria life cycle.