Dionisia

For other uses, see Dionisia (disambiguation).

For the Christian saint, see St. Denise.

Dionisia is a genus of parasitic alveolates belonging to the phylum Apicomplexa.

Dionisia
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Clade:	Sar
Clade:	Alveolata
Phylum:	Apicomplexa
Class:	Aconoidasida
Order:	Haemospororida
Family:	Plasmodiidae
Genus:	Dionisia
Species
Dionisia bunoi

The type species of this genus is Dionisia bunoi.

Taxonomy

The genus was described by Landau et al. in 1980.^[1]

Description

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

The schizonts develop in the lumen of the liver 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.

Hosts

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

Geographical location

These parasites are found in Gabon, Africa.