undulipodium

Pronunciation: ŭn′dū-li-pō′dē-ŭm, -ă

Definition: 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]

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