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3D rendering of centrioles showing the triplets. In cell biology a centriole is a cylindrical organelle composed mainly of a protein called tubulin. [1] Centrioles are found in most eukaryotic cells, but are not present in conifers (), flowering plants (angiosperms) and most fungi, and are only present in the male gametes of charophytes, bryophytes, seedless vascular plants, cycads, and Ginkgo.
The centriole is formed from 9 main microtubules, each having two partial microtubules attached to it. Each centriole is approximately 400 nm long and around 200 nm in circumference. [56] The centrosome is critical to mitosis as most microtubules involved in the process originate from the centrosome.
In the absence of the centrioles, the microtubules of the spindle are focused by motors, allowing the formation of a bipolar spindle. Many cells can completely undergo interphase without centrioles. [10] Unlike centrioles, centrosomes are required for survival of the organism. Cells without centrosomes lack radial arrays of astral microtubules ...
Centrioles do not exist in the MTOCs of yeast and fungi. [1] In these organisms, the nuclear envelope does not break down during mitosis and the spindle pole body serves to connect cytoplasmic with nuclear microtubules. The disc-shaped spindle pole body is organized into three layers: the central plaque, inner plaque, and outer plaque.
The basal body differs from the mother centriole in at least 2 aspects. First, basal bodies have basal feet, which are anchored to cytoplasmic microtubules and are necessary for polarized alignment of the cilium. Second, basal bodies have pinwheel-shaped transition fibers that originate from the appendages of mother centriole. [5]
In nine triplet sets (star-shaped), they form the centrioles, and in nine doublets oriented about two additional microtubules (wheel-shaped), they form cilia and flagella. The latter formation is commonly referred to as a "9+2" arrangement, wherein each doublet is connected to another by the protein dynein .
Astral microtubules develop in the actin skeleton and interact with the cell cortex to aid in spindle orientation. They are organized into radial arrays around the centrosomes. The turn-over rate of this population of microtubules is higher than any other population. The role of astral microtubules is assisted by dyneins specific to this role ...
However, the two centrioles are of different ages. This is because one centriole originates from the mother cell while the other is replicated from the mother centriole during the cell cycle. It is possible to distinguish between the two preexisting centrioles because the mother and daughter centriole differ in both shape and function. [5]