SEM micrograph of the procyclic form of<unk>  as found in the tsetse fly midgut. The cell body is shown in orange and the flagellum is in red. 84 pixels/μm.T.<unk>  is a typical unicellular eukaryotic cell, and measures 8 to 50 μm in length. It has an elongated body having a streamlined and tapered shape. Its cell membrane (called pellicle) encloses the cell organelles, including the nucleus, mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, and ribosomes. In addition, there is an unusual organelle called the kinetoplast, which is a complex of thousands of mitochondria. The kinetoplast lies near the basal body with which it is indistinguishable under microscope. From the basal body arises a single flagellum that run towards the anterior end. Along the body surface, the flagellum is attached to the cell membrane forming an undulating membrane. Only the tip of the flagellum is free at the anterior end. The cell surface of the bloodstream form features a dense coat of variant surface glycoproteins (VSGs) which is replaced by an equally dense coat of procyclins when the parasite differentiates into the procyclic phase in the tsetse fly midgut. The six main morphologies of trypanosomatids. The different life cycle stages of<unk>  fall into the trypomastigote and epimastigote morphological categories. Trypanosomatids show several different classes of cellular organisation of which two are adopted by<unk>  at different stages of the life cycle: *Epimastigote, which is found in tsetse fly. Its kinetoplast and basal body lie anterior to the nucleus, with a long flagellum attached along the cell body. The flagellum starts from the centre of the body. *Trypomastigote, which is found in mammalian hosts. The kinetoplast and basal body are posterior of nucleus. The flagellum arises from the posterior end of the body.<unk>  flagellar structure These names are derived from the Greek mastig- meaning whip, referring to the trypanosome's whip-like flagellum. The trypanosome flagellum has two main structures. It is made up of a typical flagellar axoneme, which lies parallel to the paraflagellar rod, a lattice structure of proteins unique to the kinetoplastids, euglenoids and dinoflagellates. The microtubules of the flagellar axoneme lie in the normal 9+2 arrangement, orientated with the + at the anterior end and the − in the basal body. The cytoskeletal structure extends from the basal body to the kinetoplast. The flagellum is bound to the cytoskeleton of the main cell body by four specialised microtubules, which run parallel and in the same direction to the flagellar tubulin. The flagellar function is twofold — locomotion via oscillations along the attached flagellum and cell body, and attachment to the fly gut during the procyclic phase.
Trypanosoma brucei
Trypanosoma evansi
Leishmania
Leishmania braziliensis
Trypanosoma cruzi
Plasmodium unalis
Leishmania donovani
Entamoeba moshkovskii