| One flagellum and most of the body of the penetrating microgamete had entered the macrogamete. |
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| Fertilisation occurs when the microgamete fuses with the macrogamete to form first a zygote, then a motile ookinete. |
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| Each of these processes becomes a male gamete termed a microgamete which is equivalent to a mammalian spermatozoon. |
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| The sexual phase of the Plasmodium life cycle is completed with the fertilization of a macrogamete by a flagellar microgamete, and the subsequent generation of sporozoites. |
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| The nucleus of the female parasite moves to the surface where a small protuberance is formed and into this, penetrates the microgamete forming a zygote. |
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