undulipodium


un·du·li·po·di·um

, pl.

un·du·li·po·di·a

(ŭn'dū-li-pō'dē-ŭm, -ă), A flexible whiplike intracellular extension of many eukaryotic cells, with a characteristic ninefold symmetry, an arrangement of nine paired peripheral microtubules and one central pair, often termed 9 + 2 symmetry; it appears to grow out from a basal body (kinetosome) in the cell and is a fundamental component of the eukaryotic cell. Both the cilium and the eukaryotic flagellum (not the bacterial flagellum, which lacks the 9 + 2 pattern) are considered undulipodia. [LL. undulo, to move in waves, fr. L. unda, wave, + Mod.L. podium, fr. G. podion, dim. of pous, foot]

un·du·li·po·di·um

, pl. undulipodia (ŭn'dū-li-pō'dē-ŭm, -ă) A flexible, whiplike intracellular extension of many eukaryotic cells, with a characteristic arrangement of nine paired peripheral microtubules and one central pair; it appears to grow out from a basal body (kinetosome) in the cell. Both the cilium and the eukaryotic flagellum (not the bacterial flagellum, which lacks the 9 + 2 pattern) are considered undulipodia. [LL. undulo, to move in waves, fr. L. unda, wave, + Mod.L. podium, fr. G. podion, dim. of pous, foot]