Does the shape of Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes have a function?
The gametocytes of Plasmodium falciparum have a characteristic banana-shape. One could wonder if this shape has been retained by selection forces because it favored transmission. By increasing the surface to volume ratio, the elongation that takes place during the maturation of P. falciparum gametocytes increases the susceptibility of gametocytes to rheological forces. This may facilitate their exit from the bone marrow and their subsequent impaction in the cutaneous capillaries that are lined with sequestered asexual parasites. The asymmetric curvature of gametocytes may tend to present gametocytes perpendicularly to the axis of the blood flow, thus increasing their chance to be retained and accumulate where they can be absorbed by the vector.
