''Progarnia'' is a genus 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 In biology, a phylum (; : phyla) is a level of classification, or taxonomic rank, that is below Kingdom (biology), kingdom and above Class (biology), class. Traditionally, in botany the term division (taxonomy), division has been used instead ...

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 ...

History

The genus was described in 1995 by Lainson.

Description

Merogony 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 ...

occurs principally in

leucocyte White blood cells (scientific name leukocytes), also called immune cells or immunocytes, are cells of the immune system that are involved in protecting the body against both infectious disease and foreign entities. White blood cells are genera ...

s and

thrombocyte Platelets or thrombocytes () are a part of blood whose function (along with the coagulation factors) is to react to bleeding from blood vessel injury by clumping to form a blood clot. Platelets have no cell nucleus; they are fragments of cytop ...

s and to a lesser extent in the

erythrocyte Red blood cells (RBCs), referred to as erythrocytes (, with -''cyte'' translated as 'cell' in modern usage) in academia and medical publishing, also known as red cells, erythroid cells, and rarely haematids, are the most common type of blood ce ...

s. No pigment is produced.

Gametogony 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 organis ...

, like merogony, occurs principally in leucocytes and thrombocytes and to a lesser extent in the erythrocytes. Again no pigment is produced. Nothing is currently known about parasitic forms outside the

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood is com ...

Hosts

The only known host is the spectacled caiman ('' Caiman crocodilus crocodilus'').

Geographic distribution

This genus has been described in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

References

Apicomplexa genera Haemosporida Parasites of reptiles {{Apicomplexa-stub