Ontogeny of ookinete of Plasmodium berghei (NK 65): a scanning electron microscopic study

The ontogeny of ookinete of Plasmodium berghei (NK 65) was studied in vector Anopheles stephensi fed on infected Mastomys natalensis. The round zygote transformed into an ookinete after passing through following stages-1 gram-seed shaped zygote, 2 comma-shaped stage, 3 semilunar and 4 banana shaped ookinete. Each fully formed ookinete had a 'Conule' at the anterior end of the body. In some ookinetes under SEM a depression was observed in the posterior half of the body. The function of the depression was not known.