cilium: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As	undulipodia • cilia • ciliums

Photos and Videos

The protozoan called paramecium swims freely in its search for food such as bacteria. It captures the prey with its cilia (also shown enlarged). Enzymes in the food vacuoles digest the prey, and contractile vacuoles expel excess water.

Cilia (yellow) in the oviduct of a rabbit; a false-colour scanning electron micrograph at 3,550 magnification

Cutaway illustration of a eukaryotic animal cell showing labeled internal structures, including the nucleus, nucleolus, mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, and other organelles.

Observe ciliated cells throughout the human respiratory system

Discover how individual cilia employ viscous drag to coordinate power and recovery strokes for locomotion

Learn how the sweeping motions of coral cilia draw nutrients inward and expel wastes away from the coral

Observe protozoan microorganisms from a drop of pond water under optical and electron microscopes

Analyze the structure and motion of cilia and flagella

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Topics

kinocilium axoneme metachronal wave membranelle kinety dynein cell membrane nucleus vacuole Flagellum cytoplasm protoplasm Organelle plasmodesma stem cell Tissue

Mechanism of cellular autophagy, illustration for Nobel Prize Award in Medicine 2016. 3D illustration showing fusion of lysosome with autophagosome containing microbes and molecules.

Parts of a Cell Quiz