Kinetoplastids

Kinetoplastida (or Kinetoplastea, as a class) is a group of flagellated protists belonging to the phylum Euglenozoa, and characterised by the presence of a distinctive organelle called the kinetoplast (hence the name), a granule containing a large mass of DNA. The group includes a number of parasites responsible for serious diseases in humans and other animals, as well as various forms found in soil and aquatic environments. The organisms are commonly referred to as "kinetoplastids" or "kinetoplasts".

thumb|Electron micrograph of normal kinetoplast (K) of Trypanosoma brucei A kinetoplast is a network of circular DNA (called kDNA) inside a mitochondrion that contains many copies of the mitochondrial genome. The most common kinetoplast structure is a disk, but they have been observed in other arrangements. Kinetoplasts are only found in Excavata of the class Kinetoplastida. The variation in the structures of kinetoplasts may reflect phylogenic relationships between kinetoplastids. A kinetoplast is usually adjacent to the organism's flagellar basal body, suggesting that it is bound to some com

thumb|210px|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. 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.

genus of protists

Cryptobia is a genus of kinetoplastids. Several species are known for being fish pathogens. They can be found in other animals, as well. The name Trypanoplasma is occasionally used for some of these.