zooflagellate

zooflagellate
/zoh'euh flaj"euh lit, -layt'/, n.
any flagellated protozoan that lacks photosynthetic pigment and feeds on organic matter: often parasitic.
[1955-60; ZOO- + FLAGELLATE]

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      any flagellate protozoan that is traditionally of the protozoan class Zoomastigophorea (sometimes called Zooflagellata), although recent classifications of this group have questioned the taxonomic usefulness of the term because some zooflagellates have been found to have photosynthetic capabilities and some phytoflagellates heterotrophic capabilities.

      Zooflagellates assimilate organic material by osmotrophy (absorption through the plasma membrane) or phagotrophy (engulfing prey in food vacuoles). The zooflagellate's flexible pellicle (envelope) is sufficiently thin in certain genera to permit pseudopodal projections. Zooflagellates exhibit a considerable variation in form, and they may be free-living, symbiotic, commensal, or parasitic in humans and other animals and in certain plants. For additional information about zooflagellates, see choanoflagellate; Holomastigotoides; hypermastigote; protomonad; trichomonad.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • zooflagellate — [zō΄ōflag′ə lit, zō΄əflaj′ə lit, zō΄ō flaj′əlāt΄, zō΄ə flaj′əlāt΄] n. [ ZOO + FLAGELLATE] any of a class (Zoomastigophora) of colorless, flagellated protozoans that ingest food …   English World dictionary

  • zooflagellate — noun Any of the heterotrophic flagellates of the phylum Zoomastigophora Syn: zoomastigote …   Wiktionary

  • zooflagellate — zoo·flag·el·late (zo″o flajґə lāt) [zoo + flagellate] any protozoan of a large group exhibiting animallike behavior, formerly classified in the class Zoomastigophorea …   Medical dictionary

  • zooflagellate — zoo·flagellate …   English syllables

  • zooflagellate — zo•o•flag•el•late [[t]ˌzoʊ əˈflædʒ ə lɪt, ˌleɪt[/t]] n. mcr any flagellated protozoan that lacks photosynthetic pigment and feeds on organic matter: often parasitic • Etymology: 1955–60 …   From formal English to slang

  • zooflagellate — noun flagellate protozoan lacking photosynthesis and other plant like characteristics • Syn: ↑zoomastigote • Hypernyms: ↑flagellate, ↑flagellate protozoan, ↑flagellated protozoan, ↑mastigophoran, ↑mastigophore …   Useful english dictionary

  • animallike flagellate — zooflagellate …   Medical dictionary

  • flagellate — flagellator, n. flagellatory /flaj euh leuh tawr ee, tohr ee/, adj. v. /flaj euh layt /; adj., n. /flaj euh lit, layt /, v., flagellated, flagellating, adj., n. v.t. 1. to whip; scourge; flog; lash. adj. 2. Also, flagellated. Biol. having… …   Universalium

  • Flagellate — Not to be confused with flagellation. Flagellata from Encyclopædia Britannica …   Wikipedia

  • protist — protistan /proh tis teuhn/, adj., n. protistic, adj. /proh tist/, n. any of various one celled organisms, classified in the kingdom Protista, that are either free living or aggregated into simple colonies and that have diverse reproductive and… …   Universalium

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