title: Visualization and quantification of Plasmodium falciparum intraerythrocytic merozoites.
abstract: Malaria, a leading parasitic killer, is caused by Plasmodium spp. The pathology of the disease starts when Plasmodium merozoites infect erythrocytes to form rings, that matures through a large trophozoite form and develop into schizonts containing multiple merozoites. The number of intra-erythrocytic merozoites is a key-determining factor for multiplication rate of the parasite. Counting of intraerythrocytic merozoites by classical 2-D microscopy method is error prone due to insufficient representation of merozoite in one optical plane of a schizont. Here, we report an alternative 3-D microscopy based automated method for counting of intraerythrocytic merozoites in entire volume of schizont. This method offers a considerable amount of advantages in terms of both, ease and accuracy.
authors.affiliation: Malaria Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi, 110067 India.
authors.forename: Swati
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Garg
authors.affiliation: Malaria Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi, 110067 India.
authors.forename: Shalini
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Agarwal
authors.affiliation: Malaria Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi, 110067 India.
authors.forename: Surbhi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dabral
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Shiv Nadar University, Gautam Budha Nagar, 203207 UP India.
authors.forename: Naveen
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Shiv Nadar University, Gautam Budha Nagar, 203207 UP India.
authors.forename: Seema
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sehrawat
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Shiv Nadar University, Gautam Budha Nagar, 203207 UP India.
authors.forename: Shailja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Singh
keywords: 2-D microscopy; 3-D microscopy; Imaris; Malaria; Merozoites; Plasmodium; Schizonts