Phylum Kinetoplastida

Question 1

amastigote

Answer 1

The parasite is more spherical in shape and has no free flagellum. A basal body and the base of the flagellum is still present. The kinetoplast is usually detectable as a darkly staining body near the nucleus. This form is a non-motile intracellular stage.

Question 2

promastigote/choanomastigote

Answer 2

The kinetoplast is towards the anterior end and a free flagellum with no undulating membrane emerges. The end that the free flagellum emerges from in all three motile forms is designated as the anterior end because they swim in that direction. In other words, the flagellum pulls the organism.

Question 3

epimastigote

Answer 3

The kinetoplast is more centrally located, usually just anterior to nucleus. The flagellum emerges from the middle of the parasite and forms a shorter undulating membrane than observed in trypomastigotes. Epimastigotes are noticeably less motile than trypomastigotes.

Question 4

trypomastigote

Answer 4

The kinetoplast is located on the posterior end of the parasite. The flagellum emerges from the posterior end and folds back along the parasite’s body. This attachment of the flagellum to the body forms an undulating membrane that spans the entire length of the parasite and the free flagellum emerges from the anterior end. This is considered the anterior end since the flagellum pulls the organism and the end with the free flagellum is the front in reference to the direction of movement. The undulating membrane functions like a fin and increases the motility of the organism.

Question 5

metacyclic trypomastigotes

Answer 5

Infective metacyclic trypomastigotes are deposited on human skin when the reduviid bug takes a blood meal. Trypomastigotes enter the body when the feces are either rubbed into the bite wound or the eye. Trypomastigotes invade cells, where they reproduce asexually as amastigotes.

Question 6

metacyclic promastigotes

Answer 6

The infectious metacyclic promastigotes of Leishmania protozoa establish infection in a mammalian host after they are deposited into the dermis by a sand fly vector.

Question 7

LD bodies

Answer 7

Leishman-Donovan body. The intracytoplasmic, nonflagellated leishmanial form of certain intracellular parasites, such as species of leishmania or the intracellular form of Trypanosoma cruzi

Originally used for leishmania donovani parasites in infected spleen or liver cells in kala azar.