Explain the events which occur within a female Anopheles mosquito after it has sucked blood from a malaria patient.
Plasmodium undergoes sexual reproduction inside the mosquito, continuing its life cycle.
Upon ingestion by the mosquito via a blood meal, Plasmodium gametocytes undergo maturation in the gut into gametes. These gametes then fertilize to produce zygotes, which subsequently differentiate into sporozoites. The sporozoites then travel to the mosquito’s salivary glands, enabling transmission to a new host.