Question

the organism p. malariae lives in red blood cells, causing the host organism to experience high fevers and chills. what type of relationship is this?
a. mutualism
b. commensalism
c. parasitism
d. competition
please select the best answer from the choices provided
o a
o b
o c
o d

Explanation:

• Mutualism is a relationship where both organisms benefit. Here, only \(P. malariae\) benefits (by having a place to live), and the host is harmed (gets fevers and chills), so it's not mutualism.
• Commensalism is a relationship where one organism benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed. But the host is harmed in this case, so it's not commensalism.
• Parasitism is a relationship where one organism (the parasite, here \(P. malariae\)) lives on or in another organism (the host) and harms it. This matches the description.
• Competition is when two or more organisms compete for the same resources (like food, space). That's not the case here.

Answer:

C. Parasitism