Parasites function

Blackman, M. J. (2000). Proteases involved in erythrocyte invasion by the malaria parasite Function and potential as chemotherapeutic targets. Curr. Drug Targets 1,59-83. 

The function of the essential oil in the plant is not fully understood. Microscopic examination of plant parts that contain the oil sacs readily shows their presence. The odors of flowers are said to act as attractants for insects involved in pollination and thus may aid in preservation and natural selection. Essential oils are almost always bacteriostats and often bacteriocides. Many components of essential oils are chemically active and thus could participate readily in metaboHc reactions. They are sources of plant metaboHc energy, although some chemists have referred to them as waste products of plant metaboHsm. Exudates, which contain essential oils, eg, balsams and resins, act as protective seals against disease or parasites, prevent loss of sap, and are formed readily when the tree tmnks are damaged. 

Very few self-sufficient viruses have only 60 protein chains in their shells. The satellite viruses do not themselves encode all of the functions required for their replication and are therefore not self-sufficient. The first satellite virus to be discovered, satellite tobacco necrosis virus, which is also one of the smallest known with a diameter of 180 A, has a protein shell of 60 subunits. This virus cannot replicate on its own inside a tobacco cell but needs a helper virus, tobacco necrosis virus, to supply the functions it does not encode. The RNA genome of the satellite virus has only 1120 nucleotides, which code for the viral coat protein of 195 amino acids but no other protein. With this minimal genome the satellite viruses are obligate parasites of the viruses that parasitize cells. 

Glycophorin A appears to serve a variety of functions on the red-cell membrane, and has been implicated in several red-cell disorders. Because it extends from the external environment of the cell into the cell cytoplasm, it is considered to constitute a receptor for malarial parasites,"" influenza viruses, lectins, and Portuguese man-of-war toxin. Many of these receptor functions are attributable to the carbohydrate composition of these... 

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