Rhizoplast

Longitudinal section of the pelagophyte Plocamiomonas psychrophila under transmission electron microscopy showing system II fibre or rhizoplast (r) positioned at the base of the basal bodies and continuing parallel to the nucleus (N). The mature (mf) and immature (if) flagella are also visible.

The rhizoplast (also known as internal flagellar root, fibrous root or cross-banded root)[1][2][3] is an organelle present in a variety of flagellates, including ochrophyte and chlorophyte algae and some fungi. This term is used for a variety of striated, fibrous root-like structures that attach to the basal bodies (kinetosome) of the flagella and end in some other organelle. In the strictest sense, the term refers specifically to a type of root (known as system II fiber) that is composed of contractile microfibrils of centrin and connects directly to the surface of the cell nucleus.

  1. ^ Moestrup 1982, p. 493.
  2. ^ Andersen 1991, p. 149.
  3. ^ Brugerolle & Mignot 2003, p. 13.