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plasmodium Definition

plas·mo·dium (plaz mō′dē əm)

noun pl. plasmodia -·dia (-ə)

  1. a shapeless mass of protoplasm with many nuclei and no definite size, esp. the vegetative stage of a myxomycete
  2. any of a genus (Plasmodium) of unicellular sporozoans found in red blood corpuscles, including the parasites that cause malaria

Etymology: ModL: see plasma, -ode, -ium

plasmodium Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • call: Malaria is an infectious disease due to the presence of a parasite called Plasmodium within the red blood cells.
  • prevent: The molecule prevents Plasmodium, the malaria mosquito, from moving from the mosquito's gut to its salivary glands.

Modifies a noun

  • falciparum: Research The research carried out in David's group is focused on the sexual stages of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum.
  • chabaudi: The effect of parasite dose on severity of disease in the rodent malaria Plasmodium chabaudi.
  • vivax: Until recently Plasmodium vivax malaria was endemic in parts of England and even now the Anopheles mosquitoes that can transmit malaria are still present.
  • berghei: Chemical and biological evaluation of the effect of plant extracts against Plasmodium berghei.
  • malaria: The global distribution of clinical episodes of Plasmodium falciparum malaria.
  • parasite: These showed the Plasmodium parasite infecting the red blood cells.

Noun used with modifier

  • parasite: They describe the life cycle of the mosquito parasite Plasmodium.
  • malaria: The effect of parasite dose on severity of disease in the rodent malaria Plasmodium chabaudi.
  • rodent: The effect of parasite dose on severity of disease in the rodent malaria Plasmodium chabaudi.
  • genus: The disease results from replication in red blood cells of apicomplexan parasites belonging to the genus Plasmodium.