Term replacing “crithidial stage,” to avoid confusion with the insect-parasitizing flagellates of the genus Crithidia. In the e. stage the flagellum arises from the kinetoplast alongside the nucleus and emerges from the anterior end of the organism; an undulating membrane is present. [epi- + G. mastix, whip]
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epi·mas·ti·gote (ep″ĭ-masґtĭ-gōt) [epi- + Gr. mastix whip] a morphologic stage in the life cycle of certain trypanosomatid protozoa; the kinetoplast and basal body are located anterior to the central vesicular nucleus of the slender elongate cell, and the flagellum passes anteriorly attached to the body by an undulating membrane, at the anterior end becoming free-flowing. Cf. amastigote, choanomastigote, opisthomastigote, promastigote, and trypomastigote.Medical dictionary. 2011.