sporozoite

See also: sporozoïte

English

Etymology

From sporo- +‎ zoite.

Pronunciation
  • (UK) IPA(key): /spɒɹəˈzəʊʌɪt/

Noun

sporozoite (plural sporozoites)

  1. (cytology) Any of the minute active bodies into which a sporozoan divides just before it infects a new host cell.
    • 1997, Roy Porter, The Greatest Benefit to Mankind, Folio Society 2016, p. 453:
      Ross […] was then able to outline its history within the mosquito: first, as a zygote in the stomach; then as an oocyst in the stomach wall; and finally as a mature sporozoite that reaches first the proboscis and then a human host when the insect bites and squirts its saliva prior to sucking blood.

Derived terms
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