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The Latin word flagellum means "whip" to describe its lash-like swimming motion. The flagellum in archaea is called the archaellum to note its difference from the bacterial flagellum. [7] [8] Eukaryotic flagella and cilia are identical in structure but have different lengths and functions. [9]
Flagella in eukaryotes are supported by microtubules in a characteristic arrangement, with nine fused pairs surrounding two central singlets. These arise from a basal body. In some flagellates, flagella direct food into a cytostome or mouth, where food is ingested. Flagella role in classifying eukaryotes.
Inside a cilium and a flagellum is a microtubule-based cytoskeleton called the axoneme. The axoneme of a primary cilium typically has a ring of nine outer microtubule doublets (called a 9+0 axoneme), and the axoneme of a motile cilium has two central microtubules in addition to the nine outer doublets (called a 9+2 axoneme).
Eukaryotic flagella—those of animal, plant, and protist cells—are complex cellular projections that lash back and forth. Eukaryotic flagella are classed along with eukaryotic motile cilia as undulipodia [17] to emphasize their distinctive wavy appendage role in cellular function or motility. Primary cilia are immotile, and are not undulipodia.
Movement of the flagellum draws water through the collar, and bacteria and detritus are captured by the microvilli and ingested. [12] Water currents generated by the flagellum also push free-swimming cells along, as in animal sperm. In contrast, most other flagellates are pulled by their flagella. [citation needed]
Although most organelles are functional units within cells, some function units that extend outside of cells are often termed organelles, such as cilia, the flagellum and archaellum, and the trichocyst (these could be referred to as membrane bound in the sense that they are attached to (or bound to) the membrane).
The evolution of flagella is of great interest to biologists because the three known varieties of flagella – (eukaryotic, bacterial, and archaeal) each represent a sophisticated cellular structure that requires the interaction of many different systems.
Intraflagellar transport (IFT) is a bidirectional motility along axoneme microtubules that is essential for the formation (ciliogenesis) and maintenance of most eukaryotic cilia and flagella. [1] It is thought to be required to build all cilia that assemble within a membrane projection from the cell surface.