Trophozoite

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (April 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

A trophozoite (G. trope, nourishment + zoon, animal) is the activated, feeding stage in the life cycle of protozoan parasites such as the malaria-causing Plasmodium falciparum (the opposite of the trophozoite state is the thick-walled cyst form).

The trophozoite develops into a schizont which is a mother cell which asexually produces daughter cells known as merozoites. Another type of Balantidium coli is cysts.