Parasitology
You don't need to be Editor-In-Chief to add or edit content to WikiDoc. You can begin to add to or edit text on this WikiDoc page by clicking on the edit button at the top of this page. Next enter or edit the information that you would like to appear here. Once you are done editing, scroll down and click the Save page button at the bottom of the page.
Parasitology is the study of parasites, their hosts, and the relationship between them. As a biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in question, but by their way of life. This means it forms a synthesis of other disciplines, and draws on techniques from fields such as cell biology, bioinformatics, biochemistry, molecular biology, immunology, genetics, evolution and ecology.
The parasitic mode of life is the most common on the planet[citation needed], with representatives from all major taxa, from the simplest unicellular organisms to complex vertebrates. Every free-living species has its own unique species of parasite[citation needed], so the number of parasitic species greatly exceeds the number of free living species.
Fields
The study of these diverse organisms means that the subject is often broken up into simpler, more focused units, which use common techniques, even if they are not studying the same organisms or diseases. Much research in parasitology falls somewhere between two or more of these definitions. In general, the study of prokaryotes fall under the field of bacteriology rather than parasitology.
Medical parasitology
One of the largest fields in parasitology, medical parasitology is the study of those parasites which infect humans. These include organisms such as:
- Plasmodium spp., the unicellular organism which causes malaria. Four different subtypes of malaria are Pl.falciparum,Pl.malariae, Pl.vivax & Pl.ovale.
- Leishmania donovani, the unicellular organism which causes leishmaniasis
- multicellular organisms such as Schistosoma spp., Wuchereria bancrofti and Necator americanus
Medical parasitology can involve drug development, epidimiological studies and study of zoonoses.
Veterinary parasitology
The study of parasites which cause economic losses in agriculture or aquaculture operations, or which infect companion animals. Examples of species studied are:
- Lucilia cericata, the blowfly, which lays eggs on the skins of farm animals. The maggots hatch and burrow into the flesh, distressing the animal and causing economic loss to the farmer
- Otodectes cynotis, the cat ear mite, responsible for Canker.
- Gyrodactylus salaris, a monogenean parasite of salmon, which can wipe out populations which are not resistant.
amphistomes
Structural parasitology
This is the study of structures of proteins from parasites. Determination of parasitic protein structures may help to better understand how these proteins function differently from homologous proteins in humans. In addition, protein structures may inform the process of drug discovery.
Parasite ecology
Parasites can provide information about host population ecology. In fisheries biology, for example, parasite communities can be used to distinguish distinct populations of the same fish species co-inhabiting a region. Additionally, parasites possess a variety of specialized traits and life-history strategies that enable them to colonize hosts. Understanding these aspects of parasite ecology, of interest in their own right, can illuminate parasite-avoidance strategies employed by hosts.
Taxonomy and phylogenetics
The huge diversity within the parasitic animals creates a challenge for biologists to describe and catalogue them. Recent developments in using DNA to identify separate species and to investigate the relationship between groups at various taxonomic scales has been enormously useful to parasitologists, as many parasites are highly degenerate, disguising relationships between species.
See also
External links
- American Society of Parasitologists
- Australian Society for Parasitology
- British Society for Parasitology
- Chinese Society of Parasitology
- Czech Society for Parasitology
- Indian Society of Parasitology
- Israel Society for Parasitology, Protozoology and Tropical Diseases
- Japanese Society of Parasitology
- Korean Society for Parasitology
- Nederlandse Vereniging voor Parasitologie
- New Zealand Society for Parasitology
- Scandinavian and Baltic Societies for Parasitology
- e-Parasite - Parasitologists Online Community
Major subtopics of biology |
|---|
| Anatomy - Astrobiology - Biochemistry - Bioinformatics - Botany - Cell biology - Ecology - Developmental biology - Evolutionary biology - Genetics - Genomics - Marine biology - Human biology - Microbiology - Molecular biology - Origin of life - Paleontology - Parasitology - Pathology - Physiology - Taxonomy - Zoology |
bg:Паразитология ca:Parasitologia cv:Паразитологи cs:Parazitologie de:Parasitologieeo:Parazitologio fr:Parasitologie is:Sníkjudýrafræði he:פרזיטולוגיה lt:Parazitologija nl:Parasitologie ja:寄生虫学 oc:Parasitologiask:Parazitológia th:ปรสิตวิทยาuk:Паразитологія
Acknowledgement and Attribution Regarding Sources of Content
Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .
