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Pneumocystis Research Paper

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Pneumocystis pneumonia is a potentially life-endangering disease caused by a fungal pathogen Pneumocystis jiroveci that is predominantly observed in immunocompromised individuals. This microorganism is the most common causative agent of opportunistic infections in patients presenting with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in the developed countries.

The exact name of the species that infects humans has been amended from Pneumocystis carinii to Pneumocystis jirovecii in order to differentiate it from the species that infects and causes disease in rats. The name was given to honor Czech parasitologist Otto Jirovec who gave a substantial contribution in the research of this organism.

A fungus or a parasite?

Pneumocystis jiroveci is …show more content…

Cysts are produced during the reproductive stage due to the conjugation of trophozoites, while trophic forms prevail in lungs during the …show more content…

containing only one member of each chromosome pair) trophic forms that grow into bigger, diploid (i.e. containing two members of each chromosome pair) trophic forms and reproduce asexually by cell division. During ultrastructural studies investigators have described the shape of trophic form as pleomorphic or amoeboid, and the shape of large trophic forms often appears quite irregular during electron microscopy.

Cysts represent intrapulmonary life cycle stage of Pneumocystis jiroveci developed from parent cells by meiosis and partitioning of the cytoplasm. It is a thick-walled sexual (or reproductive) stage consisting of eight haploid progeny cells that shows focal thickening of the wall (visible even by light microscopy in silver-stained specimens).

The nucleus of this fungal pathogen is small (between 0.5 and 1 µm), bounded by a typical nuclear envelope with pores and contains a noticeable nucleolus. It is not completely clear if mitosis in Pneumocystis jiroveci is closed (i.e. fully contained within the nuclear envelope) or semiopen with partial breakdown of the nuclear

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