Amastigote

Amastigotes, shown as the smaller stained dots inside the cell.

An amastigote is a protist cell that does not have visible external flagella or cilia. The term is used mainly to describe an intracellular phase in the life-cycle of trypanosomes that replicates.[1] It is also called the leishmanial stage, since in Leishmania it is the form the parasite takes in the vertebrate host, but occurs in all trypanosome genera.

  1. ^ Kahn, S; Wleklinski, M; Aruffo, A; Farr, A; Coder, D; Kahn, M (1995). "Trypanosoma cruzi amastigote adhesion to macrophages is facilitated by the mannose receptor". Journal of Experimental Medicine. 182 (3): 1243–1258. doi:10.1084/jem.182.5.1243. PMC 2192192. PMID 7595195.