Ref ID : 7304
Mark A. Farmer and Richard E. Triemer; An Ultrastructural Study of Lentomonas applanatum (Preisig) N. G. (Euglenida). J.Eukaryot.Microbiol. 41(2):112-119, 1994
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Lentomonas applanatum (syn. Entosiphon applanatum Preisig) is a biflagellate, phagotrophic euglenid found in intertidal salt marshes. Lentomonas applanatum bears a superficial similarity to Entosiphon sulcatum, however, an ultrastructural study of L. applanatum revealed many features that are atypical for other described species of the genus Entosiphon. These features include number and organization of pellicular strips, construction of the feeding apparatus, nature of the flagellar transition zone and flagellar apparatus, and point of flagellar emergence. These differences show that L. applanatum is related more closely to phagotrophic genera such as Ploeotia than to E. sulcatum. The construction of the feeding apparatus and pellicle suggest that L. applanatum has retained many of the pleisiomorphic characters that were present in the earliest euglenids. The presence of similar structures in other related protists may provide important clues as to the evolution of the Euglenida.