Cytostome
Cytostome , also called the mouth of the cell , is what Protists call a certain area of the cell where the cell membrane has openings for food intake. Once inside the cell, the food particles are then enclosed in food vacuoles where they are digested.
In ciliates , but also in numerous flagellates , it only refers to the actual place that is used to take up food inside the cell ( phagocytosis ). In a broader sense, the surrounding vestibules are also included, for example areas with oral celibation or the buccal cavity .
In some dinoflagellates, openings between individual plates of the sulcus near the bases of the flagella are also referred to as cytostomes , in phagotrophic euglenozoa and some ciliate animals the base of the cytopharynx. In the case of Apicomplexa, this refers to the micropores of the outer skin, and in the case of suction infusoria, the tentacle formations related to food intake.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Rudolf Röttger: Dictionary of Protozoology In: Protozoological Monographs, Vol. 2, 2001, p. 55, ISBN 3826585992