Cafeteria roenbergensis FENCHEL and D J PATTERSON schematic drawing

Mastigonemes are

lateral Lateral is a geometric term of location which may also refer to: Biology and healthcare * Lateral (anatomy), a term of location meaning "towards the side" * Lateral cricoarytenoid muscle, an intrinsic muscle of the larynx * Lateral release ( ...

"hairs" that attach to protistan

flagella A flagellum (; : flagella) (Latin for 'whip' or 'scourge') is a hair-like appendage that protrudes from certain plant and animal sperm cells, from fungal spores ( zoospores), and from a wide range of microorganisms to provide motility. Many pr ...

. Flimsy hairs attach to the flagella of

euglenid Euglenids or euglenoids are one of the best-known groups of eukaryotic flagellates: single-celled organisms with flagella, or whip-like tails. They are classified in the phylum Euglenophyta, class Euglenida or Euglenoidea. Euglenids are common ...

flagellates, while stiff hairs occur in

stramenopile The stramenopiles, also called heterokonts, are protists distinguished by the presence of stiff tripartite external hairs. In most species, the hairs are attached to flagella, in some they are attached to other areas of the cellular surface, an ...

and

cryptophyte The cryptomonads (or cryptophytes) are a superclass of algae, most of which have plastids. They are traditionally considered a division of algae among phycologists, under the name of Cryptophyta. They are common in freshwater, and also occur ...

protists A protist ( ) or protoctist is any Eukaryote, eukaryotic organism that is not an animal, Embryophyte, land plant, or fungus. Protists do not form a Clade, natural group, or clade, but are a Paraphyly, paraphyletic grouping of all descendants o ...

.Hoek, C. van den, Mann, D. G. and Jahns, H. M. (1995).
Algae : An introduction to phycology
', Cambridge University Press, UK. Stramenopile hairs are approximately 15 nm in diameter, and usually consist of flexible basal part that inserts into the cell membrane, a tubular shaft that itself terminates in smaller "hairs". They reverse the thrust caused when a flagellum beats. The consequence is that the cell is drawn into the water and particles of food are drawn to the surface of heterotrophic species. Typology of flagella with hairs: *whiplash flagella (= smooth, acronematic flagella): without hairs but may have extensions, e.g., in Opisthokonta *hairy flagella (= tinsel, flimmer, pleuronematic flagella): with hairs (= mastigonemes ''sensu lato''), divided in: **with fine hairs (= non tubular, or simple hairs): occurs in

Euglenophyceae Euglenophyceae (ICNafp, proposed as a class) or Euglenea (ICZN, proposed as a class) is an unranked clade of single-celled algae belonging to the phylum Euglenozoa. They have chloroplasts originated from an event of secondary endosymbiosis with ...

, Dinoflagellata, some

Haptophyceae The haptophytes, classified either as the Haptophyta, Haptophytina or Prymnesiophyta (named for ''Prymnesium''), are a clade of algae. The names Haptophyceae or Prymnesiophyceae are sometimes used instead. This ending implies classification at t ...

(

Pavlovales : Pavlovaceae is a family (biology), family of haptophytes. It is the only family in the order Pavlovales, which is the only order in the class Pavlovophyceae. It contains four genera, ''Diacronema'', ''Exanthemachrysis'', ''Pavlova (alga), Pav ...

) **with stiff hairs (= tubular hairs, retronemes, mastigonemes ''sensu stricto''), divided in: ***bipartite hairs: with two regions. Occurs in

Cryptophyceae The cryptophyceae are a class of algae, most of which have plastids. About 230 species are known, and they are common in freshwater, and also occur in marine and brackish habitats. Each cell is around 10–50 μm in size and flattened in shape ...

Prasinophyceae The prasinophytes are a group of unicellular green algae. Prasinophytes mainly include marine planktonic species, as well as some freshwater representatives.Sym, S. D. and Pienaar, R. N. 1993. The class Prasinophyceae. In Round, F. E. and Chapman ...

, and some

Heterokonta The stramenopiles, also called heterokonts, are protists distinguished by the presence of stiff tripartite external hairs. In most species, the hairs are attached to flagella, in some they are attached to other areas of the cellular surface, and ...

***tripartite (= straminipilous) hairs: with three regions (a base, a tubular shaft, and one or more terminal hairs). Occurs in most

Stramenopile The stramenopiles, also called heterokonts, are protists distinguished by the presence of stiff tripartite external hairs. In most species, the hairs are attached to flagella, in some they are attached to other areas of the cellular surface, an ...

s Observations of mastigonemes using

light microscopy Microscopy is the technical field of using microscopes to view subjects too small to be seen with the naked eye (objects that are not within the resolution range of the normal eye). There are three well-known branches of microscopy: optical, el ...

dates from the nineteenth century. Considered artifacts by some, their existence would be confirmed with

electron microscopy An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of electrons as a source of illumination. It uses electron optics that are analogous to the glass lenses of an optical light microscope to control the electron beam, for instance focusing i ...

.Bouck, G.B. 1971. The structure, origin, and comnposition of the tubular mastigonemes of the Ochromonas flagellum. J. Cell. Biol., 50: 362-384

References

Algal anatomy Eukaryotic cell anatomy Heterokonts Flagellates {{cell-biology-stub