Steven Avery
Administrator
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intracellular parasites
- Thread starter Steven Avery
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Steven Avery
Administrator
what is an intracellular paeasite and how does it replicate
AI Overview
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An intracellular parasite is an organism that lives and reproduces inside the host's cells. It replicates by hijacking the host cell's machinery—like ribosomes, enzymes, and energy sources—to produce its own components, such as DNA, RNA, and proteins. Examples include viruses and bacteria like Chlamydia, Rickettsia, and Mycobacterium species.
Replication process
AI Overview
+9
An intracellular parasite is an organism that lives and reproduces inside the host's cells. It replicates by hijacking the host cell's machinery—like ribosomes, enzymes, and energy sources—to produce its own components, such as DNA, RNA, and proteins. Examples include viruses and bacteria like Chlamydia, Rickettsia, and Mycobacterium species.
Replication process
- Invasion:
The parasite first enters the host cell, using methods like endocytosis or phagocytosis, and then finds a way to escape the host's initial defense mechanisms, such as the phagolysosome.
- Host cell takeover:
Once inside, the parasite redirects the cell's own resources to its own needs.
- It uses the host cell's ribosomes, endoplasmic reticulum, and Golgi complex to synthesize its own proteins.
- It utilizes the host cell's ATP for energy.
- It uses the host cell's ribosomes, endoplasmic reticulum, and Golgi complex to synthesize its own proteins.
- Replication:
The parasite's genetic material (DNA or RNA) is copied and used as a blueprint to create new viral or bacterial components.
- Assembly:
The new components self-assemble into new, complete parasites.
- Release:
The new parasites are released from the host cell, either by killing it outright or by budding off from the cell membrane, to continue the infection cycle.
- Viruses: Viruses rely entirely on the host cell's machinery to replicate.
- Bacteria: Some bacteria, like Chlamydia and Rickettsia, are obligate intracellular parasites, meaning they are entirely dependent on the host cell for survival and reproduction.
- Protozoa: Protozoan parasites like Plasmodium (malaria) and Leishmania invade host cells and reside within specialized compartments to replicate.