Q. Where will you look for the sporozoites of the malarial parasite?
(a) Saliva of infected female Anopheles mosquito
(b) Red blood corpuscles of human suffering from malaria
(c) Spleen of infected humans
(d) Salivary glands of trashy moulted female Anopheles mosquito
Solution : Correct option : A The mature infective stages of malarial parasite which are transferred from mosquito to man are sporozoites. The nucleus of oocyst divides first by meiosis and subsequently by mitosis, forming a large number of small haploid nuclei. At the same time, the cytoplasm develops large vacuoles. The tiny nuclei and cytoplasmic masses form elongated and spindle-shaped bodies called sporozoites. Each oocyst produces about 1,000 sporozoites. When mature oocysts rupture, the sporozoites are liberated into the haemocoel of the mosquito. Being motile, the sporozoites move to different organs in the body cavity of the mosquito, but many of them penetrate the salivary glands of the mosquito. So, sporozoites are found in the saliva of infected female Anopheles mosquito. When the female Anopheles mosquito bites a healthy person, the sporozoites are injected into his/her blood along with saliva. These sporozoites start the cycle again in the human body.