ULTRASTRUCTURAL-STUDY OF PENTATRICHOMONOIDES SP, A TRICHOMONAD FLAGELLATE FROM MASTOTERMES DARWINIENSIS

The features of one trichomonad flagellate found in Mastotermes corres pond to that of Pentatrichomonoides Kirby. The 5 basal bodies of the a nterior flagella are arranged like in other trichomonads and particula rly like in Hexamastix. The herring bone striation pattern of the cost a and the lamellar shape of the UM are very closely related to those o f the genus Trichomitopsis and, more generally said, to the Trichomona dinae genera: Trichomonas, Tetratrichomonas and Pentatrichomonas. A si gnificant modification concerns the microtubules of the axostyle which do not form an axial hollow tube but a row of microtubules underlying the plasma membrane except in the UM region which is the endocytotic area for the cell. Also the preaxostylar fibres subdivide into thin la mellae never seen in a trichomonad.