Figure 1.

The intra-erythrocytic asexual replication cycle of malaria parasites. After initial infection of the host and replication in the liver, merozoites are released into the blood stream where they penetrate healthy erythrocytes. The merozoite will then metabolize host hemoglobin to fuel its own development into the mature schizont stage (over the course of approximately 48 h in the case of P. falciparum) while restructuring the erythrocytic membrane to aid in nutrient transfer, rosetting and sequestration, and producing proteins, some of which are exported to the erythrocyte surface. The mature schizont will then undergo replicative fission, forming 8–32 merozoites which lyse the cell membrane and re-enter the bloodstream.