opisthokont

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek οπίσθω- (opístho-, “hind-”) + κοντός (kontós, “pole (in reference to the flagellum)”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɒˈpɪsθəʊ̆kɒnt/

Noun

opisthokont (plural opisthokonts)

1. (biology) Any of very many eukaryotes whose flagellate cells propel themselves with a single posterior flagellum.
   • 2002: Michael Breitenbach, Reto Crameri, and Samuel B. Lehrer, Fungal Allergy and Pathogenicity, p211 (Karger Medical and Scientific Publishers; →ISBN (10), →ISBN (13))

     Based on a single posterior flagellum (opisthokont), flattened, nondiscoid mitochondrial cristae, a chitinous exoskeleton, storage of glycogen instead of starch, lack of chloroplasts, and the code UGA for tryptophan, not chain termination, in their mitochondria, Cavalier-Smith [54] suggests a common origin of the true fungi with animalia and choanoflagellate protozoa (fig. 1).

   • 2004: Joel Cracraft & Michael J. Donoghue, Assembling the Tree of Life, p68 (Oxford University Press (USA); →ISBN (10), →ISBN (13))

     However, these characters are only sporadically found among the various opisthokont allies (described above).

   • 2006: Laura Katz Olson & Debashish Bhattacharya, Genomics and Evolution of Microbial Eukaryotes, p13 (Oxford University Press; →ISBN (10), →ISBN (13))

     Although the group embraces taxa that are diverse in morphology and life history, cells of undisputed opisthokonts have a single emergent flagellum which projects behind the cells while they swim. This is treated as defining the opisthokont ancestry.

Related terms

• opistho-
• Opisthokonta