A kinetosome, in biology, is the proper name for the basal bodies found specifically in ciliates. The axoneme arises from the kinetosome. A kinetosome is NOT the same as a kinetoplast. The kinetoplast stains darkly and is disc-like in shape. The kinetoplast and kinetosome are close to one another, but the kinetosome is made of several microtubules which form a circular arrangement around two central microtubules. This arrangement forms a tube-like structure that is the flagellum-the kinetosome is the beginning of the flagellum.

One of the organisms on which this is most noticible is Giardia.

Sources

• www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Kinetosome
• www.britannica.com/eb/topic-318217/kinetosome
• Foundations of Parasitology by Lary S. Roberts & John Janovy Jr. Chapter 4