cilia

(noun)

Organelles found in eukaryotic cells. Cilia are slender protuberances that project from the much larger cell body.

Related Terms

Examples of cilia in the following topics:

  • Whooping Cough

    • The bacterium contains a surface protein, filamentous haemagglutinin adhesin, which binds to the sulfatides found on the cilia of epithelial cells.
    • Once anchored, the bacterium produces tracheal cytotoxin, which stops the cilia from beating.
    • This prevents the cilia from clearing debris from an organism's lungs, and the body responds by sending the host into a coughing fit.

  • Biofilms and Infections

    • The patients with biofilms were shown to have been denuded of cilia and goblet cells, unlike the controls without biofilms who had normal cilia and goblet cell morphology.

  • Squid-Aliivibrio Symbiosis

    • It is also a very mobile bacteria, and is able to swim against the current created by the cilia at the mouth of the light organ.

  • Centrosome

    • The mother centriole, the one that was inherited from the mother cell, also has a central role in making cilia and flagella.