Protistology 2 (3) 152-158 (2002) A study of the soil flagellate Phalansterium solitarium Sandon 1924 with preliminary data on its
ultrastructure
Flemming Ekelund
Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Zoological Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen
Ø. Denmark
Summary
Phalansterium solitarium Sandon 1924, a common soil flagellate, was isolated and a clonal culture was examined using light and
electron microscopy. The first preliminary observations of its ultrastructure show that the cells of Ph. solitarium have the same main
characters as an earlier investigated species of the genus, Ph. digitatum Stein 1878, including a collar-like structure surrounding the
basis of the single emerging flagellum, tubular cristae, a single basal body, surrounded by x, y and z zones with radiating microtubules
and a fibrillar rootlet associated with the dictyosome. In contrast to Ph. digitatum, no spherules were seen either inside or outside the
cell of Ph. solitarium.
Key words: Phalansterium solitarium, soil flagellate, soil protozoa, ultrastructure, protists
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