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flagellum

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.21 sec.

flagellum

Enlarge picture
The bacterium Proteus vulgaris (greatly magnified) showing flagella
(credit: © Lee D. Simon—Photo Researchers)
Hairlike structure that acts mainly as an organelle of movement in the cells of many living organisms. Characteristic of the protozoan group Mastigophora, flagella also occur on the sex cells of algae, fungi (see fungus), mosses, and slime molds. Flagellar motion causes water currents necessary for respiration and circulation in sponges and cnidarians. Most motile bacteria move by means of flagella. The structures and patterns of movement of flagella in prokaryotes differ from those in eukaryotes. See also cilium.

flagellum
1. Biology a long whiplike outgrowth from a cell that acts as an organ of locomotion: occurs in some protozoans, gametes, spores, etc.
2. Botany a long thin supple shoot or runner
3. Zoology the terminal whiplike part of an arthropod's appendage, esp of the antenna of many insects


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Ponder first the bacterial flagellum (or propeller), which consists of approximately thirty distinct proteins, each of which is required for movement.
The Best American Science Writing 2006 by Krause, Kenneth W. / The Humanist
Now imagine this entire row of seats lifting up and rotating both clockwise and counter-clockwise, rising 20 feet in the air, faster and faster, until the arms and legs of its occupants are tossed around like flailing flagellum.
Sick zings: Jacko, bubbles & the Italian tit ride by Burnett, Michael / Thrasher
However, the mechanism of attachment may be redundant, and another molecule on the promastigote flagellum may be involved (11).
Distinct transmission cycles of Leishmania tropica in 2 adjacent ... by Warburg, Alon / Emerging Infectious Diseases
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