noun
- Plural of paramylum; a carbohydrate storage compound found in certain protists, particularly euglenoids, that serves a similar function to starch in plants.
Usage: technical; biology
Examples
- The euglena cells accumulated paramylums as an energy reserve during periods of abundant light.
- Paramylums are composed of glucose units linked in a branched polymer structure.
- Scientists identified paramylums in the cytoplasm of the flagellate organisms under the microscope.
- Unlike starch, paramylums are stored outside the chloroplast in euglenoid cells.