''Dionisia'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of parasitic

alveolates The alveolates (meaning "pitted like a honeycomb") are a group of protists, considered a major unranked clade or superphylum within Eukaryota. They are currently grouped with the Stramenopiles and Rhizaria among the protists with tubulocristat ...

belonging to the phylum

Apicomplexa The Apicomplexa (also called Apicomplexia; single: apicomplexan) are organisms of a large phylum of mainly parasitic alveolates. Most possess a unique form of organelle structure that comprises a type of non-photosynthetic plastid called an ap ...

. The type species of this genus is ''Dionisia bunoi''.

Taxonomy

The

was described by Landau ''et al.'' in 1980.

Description

The

gametocyte A gametocyte is a eukaryotic germ cell that divides by mitosis into other gametocytes or by meiosis into gametids during gametogenesis. Male gametocytes are called ''spermatocytes'', and female gametocytes are called ''oocytes''. Development T ...

s are sexually dimorphic with the macrogametocytes being of the 'falciparum' type and the microgametocyte of the 'malariae' type. The

schizont Apicomplexans, a group of intracellular parasites, have life cycle stages that allow them to survive the wide variety of environments they are exposed to during their complex life cycle. Each stage in the life cycle of an apicomplexan organism ...

s develop in the lumen of the

liver The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...

blood vessels inside a greatly hypertrophied host cell. They remain moderate in size and their cytoplasm is not intensely basophilic as is usually in the young stages of other mammalian

Haemosporidia Haemosporidiasina (Haemosporidia) is a subclass of apicomplexans described by Jacques Euzéby in 1988.Euzéby, J. (1988) Comparative Medical Protozoology, Vol. 3: Apicomplexa, 2: Haemosporidioses, Part 1: Plasmodiids, Haemoproteids, "Piroplasms" ...

Hosts

The only known host of these parasites is the cyclops roundleaf bat ('' Hipposideros cyclops'').

Geographical location

These parasites are found in Gabon, Africa.

References

Apicomplexa genera Parasites of bats Haemosporida {{Apicomplexa-stub