amastigote

File:Leishmania amastigotes.jpg

An amastigote is a protist cell that does not have visible external flagella or cilia. The term is used mainly to describe an intracellular phase in the life-cycle of trypanosomes that replicates.{{cite journal |author1=Kahn, S|author2=Wleklinski, M |author3=Aruffo, A |author4=Farr, A |author5=Coder, D |author6=Kahn, M |year=1995 |title=Trypanosoma cruzi amastigote adhesion to macrophages is facilitated by the mannose receptor |journal= Journal of Experimental Medicine|volume= 182|issue= 3|pages= 1243–1258 |pmc= 2192192 |doi= 10.1084/jem.182.5.1243 |pmid=7595195}} It is also called the leishmanial stage, since in Leishmania it is the form the parasite takes in the vertebrate host, but occurs in all trypanosome genera.