many micro-organisms live in and on the human body. state which type of symbiotic relationship exists between the human host and the following types of micro-organisms:
1. plasmodium which causes malaria.
2.bacteria in the gut which supply the body with vitamin K.

Question

many micro-organisms live in and on the human body. state which type of symbiotic relationship exists between the human host and the following types of micro-organisms:
1. plasmodium which causes malaria.
2.bacteria in the gut which supply the body with vitamin K.

blues · Answer

Symbiotic relationships are those which benefit both parties - the parasite and the host.

So look at your options: Is getting malaria beneficial to the host (i.e., the sick human) as well as to the plasmodium? If you think it is, then I'd go for option A. If it is not, I'd go for the second option.

insa · Answer

but i have got to do the both options!!!!!!

blues · Answer

So do you know the types of symbiotic relationship are?

insa · Answer

no!

blues · Answer

They are listed here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbiotic_relationship Mutualism, commensalism, parasitism - and a few less widely agreed upon ones...

insa · Answer

okay anyways.. just give me the relationship between humans and plasmodium..

blues · Answer

Basically the difference between these options is whether the relationship is beneficial to one organism at the expense of the other, whether one organism derives a benefit without hurting or helping the other, or whether the relationship is beneficial to both organisms.

So which of these three patterns does the malaria bug/human relationship fit?

insa · Answer

i guess that micro-organism get a place to live and gets like its food and all... and we get infected. is that so???

blues · Answer

That is exactly so.

So the bug definitely benefits - they get a habitat, basically, to support survival. Does the human benefit from this, or are they hurt by it?

insa · Answer

obviously they get infected...

blues · Answer

Yes, they obviously get infected. And this is obviously bad for them.

So you have one distinct pattern of relationship in which one organism is helped / the other organism is hurt...

insa · Answer

ya... and the bacteria??

blues · Answer

?? The plasmodium (malaria is actually not caused by bacteria, to be picky about details) is helped. The human host is hurt. That is the abstraction, the step back from the details, you need to make to figure out what sort of relationship the plasmodium/humans have.

Basically the bug is a parasite on the humans - so the relationship is 'parasitism.'