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An obligate parasite or holoparasite is a parasitic organism that cannot complete its life-cycle without exploiting a suitable host. If an obligate parasite cannot obtain a host it will fail to reproduce. This is opposed to a facultative parasite, which can act as a parasite but does not rely on its host to continue its life-cycle.
An obligate parasite depends completely on the host to complete its life cycle, while a facultative parasite does not. Parasite life cycles involving only one host are called "direct"; those with a definitive host (where the parasite reproduces sexually) and at least one intermediate host are called "indirect".
Obligate intracellular parasites cannot reproduce outside their host cell, meaning that the parasite's reproduction is entirely reliant on intracellular resources. All viruses are obligate intracellular parasites. Bacterial examples (that affect humans) include: Chlamydia, and closely related species. [14] Rickettsia; Coxiella
Interspecific brood-parasites include the indigobirds, whydahs, and honeyguides in Africa, cowbirds, Old World cuckoos, black-headed ducks, and some New World cuckoos in the Americas. Seven independent origins of obligate interspecific brood parasitism in birds have been proposed.
A parasitic plant is a plant that derives some or all of its nutritional requirements from ... Obligate: An obligate parasite cannot complete its life cycle without a ...
A facultative parasite is an organism that may resort to parasitic activity, but does not absolutely rely on any host for completion of its life cycle. Examples of facultative parasitism occur among many species of fungi , such as family members of the genus Armillaria .
Plasmodium is a genus of unicellular eukaryotes that are obligate parasites of vertebrates and insects.The life cycles of Plasmodium species involve development in a blood-feeding insect host which then injects parasites into a vertebrate host during a blood meal.
As obligate intracellular parasites, they must live and reproduce within an animal cell. Coccidian parasites infect the intestinal tracts of animals, [2] and are the largest group of apicomplexan protozoa. Infection with these parasites is known as coccidiosis. Coccidia can infect all mammals, some birds, some fish, some reptiles, and some ...