Merozoite formation in the erythrocytic stages of the malaria parasite plasmodium vinckei

A study of merozoite formation in the rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium vinckei, with both light and electron microscopes, has indicated that the cycle in the red cell has 3 successive phases: 1. 1. Several nuclear divisions (usually 3), without cytoplasmic cleavage to produce a true “plasmodium” or syncytium with 8 nuclei. 2. 2. The formation of cytoplasmic protrusions by the plasmodium: each nucleus of the plasmodoum then migrates into one of these protrusions. 3. 3. The nucleated protrusions become detached as merozoites leaving a residual body in which pigment granules are segregated.