has part intracellular membraneless organelle ventral disc lateral crest ventral disc overlap zone ventral disc dorsal microribbon ventral disc crossbridge ventral disc adhesive disc ventral adhesive disc 2014-04-03T11:29:58Z pr ventral disk Due to the asymmetric nature of the Giardia trophozoite, this term is defined spatially as the trophozoite is viewed from the dorsal side, with the two nuclei dorsal to the ventral disc, and the ventral disc toward the anterior. GO:0097597 cellular_component Specialized organelle found in Giardia species (trophozoite stage) and characterized by a spiral array of microtubules and microtubule-associated structures including dorsal microribbons and crossbridges. The edge of the ventral disc narrows into a lateral crest. The ventral disk mediates mechanical attachment of the trophozoite to the host's intestinal wall, and contains the contractile proteins actinin, alpha-actinin, myosin, and tropomyosin working towards contraction of the disk involved in adherence.