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A flagellum (/ f l ə ˈ dʒ ɛ l əm /; pl.: flagella) (Latin for 'whip' or 'scourge') is a hair-like appendage that protrudes from certain plant and animal sperm cells, from fungal spores , and from a wide range of microorganisms to provide motility.
In polar flagellation, the flagella are present at one or both ends of the cell: if a single flagellum is attached at one pole, the cell is called monotrichous; if a tuft of flagella is located at one pole, the cells is lophotrichous; when flagella are present at both ends, the cell is amphitrichous.
Converted text from path objects into text objects making the image more available for translations. Decapitalized common nouns in text. Changed from plural to singular form (flagella->flagellum) since only one flagellum of each type is depicted. 13:55, 28 May 2015: 512 × 270 (716 KB) Mgaetani: User created page with UploadWizard
Inside a cilium and a flagellum is a microtubule-based cytoskeleton called the axoneme. The axoneme of a primary cilium typically has a ring of nine outer microtubule doublets (called a 9+0 axoneme), and the axoneme of a motile cilium has two central microtubules in addition to the nine outer doublets (called a 9+2 axoneme).
Typically, one flagellum is very short, and does not protrude from the cell, while the other is long enough to be seen with light microscopy. In some species, such as Euglena mutabilis , both flagella are "non-emergent"—entirely confined to the interior of the cell's reservoir—and consequently cannot be seen in the light microscope.
Although the movement of archaella and flagella is sometimes described as "whip-like", this is incorrect, as only cilia from Eukaryotes move in this manner. Indeed, even "flagellum" (word derived from Latin meaning "whip") is a misnomer, as bacterial flagella also work as propeller-like structures.
In some flagellates, flagella direct food into a cytostome or mouth, where food is ingested. Flagella role in classifying eukaryotes. Among protoctists and microscopic animals, a flagellate is an organism with one or more flagella. Some cells in other animals may be flagellate, for instance the spermatozoa of most animal phyla.
Difference of beating pattern of flagellum and cilium. Flagella are used in prokaryotes (archaea and bacteria) as well as protists. In addition, both flagella and cilia are widely used in eukaryotic cells (plant and animal) apart from protists.