| cilium | <cell biology> Motile appendage of eukaryotic cells that contains an axoneme, a bundle of microtubules arranged in a characteristic fashion with nine outer doublets and a central pair (9+2 arrangement). Active sliding of doublets relative to one another generates curvature and the asymmetric stroke of the cilium drives fluid in one direction (or the cell in the other direction). (18 Nov 1997) |
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