title: The sub-genera of avian Plasmodium.
abstract: The study of the morphology of a species of Plasmodium is difficult because these organisms have relatively few characters. The size of the schizont, for example, which is easy to assess is important at the specific level but is not always of great phylogenetic significance. Factors reflecting the parasite's metabolism provide more important evidence. Thus the position of the parasite within the host red cell (attachment to the host nucleus or its membrane, at one end or aligned with it) has been shown to be constant for a given species. Another structure of essential significance that is often ignored is a globule, usually refringent in nature, that was first decribed in Plasmodium vaoughani Novy & MacNeal, 1904 and that we consider to be characteristic of the subgenus Novyella. Species without this structure, previously classified in this sub-genus, are now included in the new sub-genus Papernaia n. sg.
authors.affiliation: Parasitologie comparée et modèles expérimentaux, USM 307, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 61, rue Buffon, CP 52, 75231 Paris Cedex 05. landau@mnhn.fr
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Landau
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Chavatte
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chabaud
mesh_terms: D025041:Animal Migration; D000818:Animals; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000469:parasitology; D001717:Birds / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000502:physiology; D008288:Malaria / Q000662:veterinary; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics