Ultrastructure of the Flagella of the Colorless Phagotroph Peranema Trichophorum (Euglenophyceae). I. Flagellar Mastigonemes1

The organization of two types of nontubular mastigonemes associated with the anterior flagellar surface of the phagotrophic biflagellate Peranema trichophorum (Ehrenberg) Stein is described from studies of thin sections, negative‐stained and shadow‐cast preparations of both intact and isolated, detergent‐treated flagella. Long mastigonemes form a unilateral, spiral array of tufts which curve toward the distal end of the flagellum, while two short mastigoneme ribbons form unequal halves of a bilateral array parallel to the flagellar long axis. Each ribbon is composed of individual overlapping fan‐shaped tiers of short mastigonemes interlinked by fine fibrils. A model proposed for Peranema mastigonemes is similar to recent models of mastigoneme organization in Euglena.