Question

6.8 several stages in the life - cycle of the sporozoan plasmodium falciparum, a causative agent of malaria in humans: (a) ring stage within a red blood cell; (b) single red blood cell with a double infection; (c) developing schizont; and (d) a gametocyte. 4.1 do apicomplexans (such as plasmodium) possess organelles for locomotion? 4.2 does every red blood cell contain a parasite? estimate the percentage of red blood cells that are infected. 4.3 can you detect different stages of infection on the same slide? if so, how many? ciliates (phylum ciliophora) paramecium an estimated 30,000 - 40,000 living species make up the subgroup ciliophora, with more than 10,000 described species to date. they are unicellular heterotrophs that possess cilia for locomotion and feeding, and have two types of nuclei - micronuclei and macronuclei. most live as solitary organisms in freshwater, but their specific arrangements of cilia allow ciliates to be specialized for different lifestyles. some are completely covered by cilia (paramecium, for example), whereas in other species the cilia are clustered into a few rows along the body, such as vorticella. using their micronuclei, ciliates undergo an elaborate process of sexual gene shuffling called conjugation - a process we will examine more closely in paramecium.

Explanation:

Step1: Answer 4.1

Apicomplexans like Plasmodium do not possess organelles for locomotion in the typical sense like cilia or flagella. They rely on gliding - motility mechanisms which are not the same as well - defined locomotion organelles.

Step2: Answer 4.2

Not every red blood cell contains a parasite. By visually estimating from the given images, if we assume there are about 20 red - blood cells visible in total and about 4 are infected, the percentage of infected red blood cells is $\frac{4}{20}\times100\% = 20\%$.

Step3: Answer 4.3

Yes, we can detect different stages of infection on the same slide. From the images, we can see 4 different stages: (A) ring stage, (B) double - infected red blood cell, (C) developing schizont, and (D) gametocyte.

Answer:

4.1: No.
4.2: No, approximately 20%.
4.3: Yes, 4.