Medical Laboratory Scientist ASCP Practice Exam 2025 – Complete Study Guide

The development of trophozoites into schizonts in Plasmodium is part of asexual replication. In this process, trophozoites, which are the active feeding stage of the parasite, undergo a series of mitotic divisions to form schizonts. These schizonts then mature and eventually release new merozoites, which can go on to infect red blood cells, continuing the cycle of infection.

Asexual reproduction is critical for the malaria lifecycle, as it enables rapid multiplication within the human host, leading to the symptoms associated with malaria. This mechanism contrasts with other options where the processes described do not pertain to the lifecycle of Plasmodium. Binary fission, for example, is a form of asexual reproduction used by some unicellular organisms, but it is not the process utilized by Plasmodium. Sexual reproduction occurs in the mosquito vector, and conjugation is a process relating to genetic exchange in microorganisms, neither of which applies to the lifecycle stages of Plasmodium in human hosts.