Sacromastigophora

Sacromastigophora is a phylum of very divergent Eukaryotes. They all have these features in common:

Endemic to US.
Facultative Anaerobes (carbohydrate metabolism is anaerobic)
Lack mitochondria
Extracellular Parasites. They dwell in the lumen and do not invade host cells. instead they adhere to the plasma membrane of host cells. They are cytotoxic by inflicting mechanical damage to host tissues)
Replicate and divide within the host by binary ﬁssion
Can be cultivated in axenic cultures in the laboratory
All are killed by Metronidazole (Flagyl) - a drug that selectively kills anaerobic cells

Organism	Disease	Major Symptoms	Subphylum	Overview
Giardia lamblia	Giardiasis	Diarrhea/Dysentery	Mastigophora	Primary agent of non-bacterial diarrhea in US.
Entamoeba histolytica	Amoebiasis	Diarrhea/Liver Absess	Sarcodina	1-5% infected in US.
Trichomonas vaginalis	Trichomoniasis	Vaginitis	Mastigophora	2-7 million infections annually in US.

	G. lamblia	E. histolytica	T. vaginalis
Morphology	Flagellate	Amoeba	Flagellate/Amoeba
Life Stages	Trophozoite Resistant Cyst	Trophozoite Resistant Cyst	Trophozoite Only No Cyst Form
Host	Many Mammals	Human Only	Human Only
Transmission	Ingestion of Cyst	Ingestion of Cyst	Sexual Intercourse
Disease	Diarrhea Dysentery	Diarrhea Liver Abscess	Vaginitis, PROM