Kinetoplast

A kinetoplast is a network of circular DNA (called kDNA) inside a large mitochondrion that contains many copies of the mitochondrial genome (Figure 1). The most common kinetoplast structure is that of a disk, but has been observed in other arrangements. Kinetoplasts are only found in protozoa of the class Kinetoplastida. The variation in the structures of kinetoplasts may reflect phylogenic relationships between Kinetoplastids. Kinetoplasts are usually adjacent to the organisms' flagellar basal body leading to the thought that they are tightly bound to the cytoskeleton.