taxonomy

Plasmodium vivax is a human pathogen and a protozoal parasite. Plasmodium vivax is one of the six most frequent causes of Malaria in humans. P. vivax is carried by a mosquito called the female Anopheles. It mainly lives in the United States, Latin America, and in some parts of Africa [24]. It is uncommon to find Plasmodium vivax in cooler areas, and it lives near high populations of people and mosquitos. They have the same shape as a signet ring. They are about ⅓ the diameter of a red blood cell [24]. There are some beliefs that the mosquitos carrying Plasmodium vivax havehorizontally acquired genetic material from humans. This is done by it latching on an exchanging DNA when sucking the blood from humans. [24]

Trypanosoma brucei is a species of a parasitic kinetoplastid that is a major cause for a vector-disease in humans and other vertebrates. The tsetse fly lives in Africa and is the insect that carries the parasite Trypanosoma brucei [25]. If the fly gives a human the parasite by biting them, the human will develop African trypanosomiasis, the sleeping sickness. It measures 8 to 50 μm in length [25]. Its body is elongated and has a tapered, thin shape. There is an unusual organelle that can be found in this organism. It is called the kinetoplast, which is made from a lot of small round Mitochondrial DNA, and when they all go together they function as one large mitochondrion [25]. T. Brucei can be found wherever the vector flies are present. They live in subtropical and tropical areas in East, Central and West Africa, where the flies live. This organism is not beneficial; rather it causes people to get very sick and weak. The disease caused by the parasite can cause things like anemia and fatigue [25].

Why does it belong?

Trypanosoma brucei is a eukaryotic unicellular organism. It is a member of the Protista kingdom because it is not a plant, animal, or fungus. It is unicellular, and most of the members of Protista or unicellular.