A. Comparison of P. falciparum and P. knowlesi schizonts and merozoites. P. knowlesi has fewer but larger merozoites in a mature schizont than P. falciparum.
B. Schematic representation of the process used to adapt macaque restricted P. knowlesi parasites to in vitro growth in human RBCs. Macaque RBCs are depicted in dark-red and human RBCs in red. Scale bar represents 2μm.
C. Switch in host cell preference to adapt to growth in RBCs. Graph shows the restriction of P. knowlesi grown in macaque blood to very young human RBCs and the subsequent expansion during adaptation to human blood towards a wider range of host cells. The subtle preference of P. falciparum for younger cells is also shown as reference.