What is the difference between flagella and flagellum

You should start with the distinction between prokaryotic flagella which are totally different in structure and mechanism of beating! Then you could say about differences between eukaryotic cilia and flagella but actually the current consensus in the field is that these 2 organelles were historically called differently because of some morphological features but they are very close to each other from evolutionary perspective and hence represent just 2 variants of the same structure.

Save my name and email in this browser for the next time I comment. Characteristics Cilia Flagella 1 Definition Cilia are short, hair like appendages extending from the surface of a living cell. Flagella are long, threadlike appendages on the surface of a living cell. Presence at one end or two ends or all over the surface. Nexin arm absent 6 Density Many hundreds per cell Few less than 10 per cell 7 Beating Cilia beat in a coordinated rhythm either simultaneously synchronous or one after the other metachronic.

Each is a bundle of nine fused pairs of microtubule doublets surrounding two central single microtubules. The movement of both cilia and flagella is caused by the interactions of these microtubules. In non-motile or primary cilia the two central single microtubules are absent. In prokaryotes cells the flagella are filamentous protein structures composed of flagellin.

There two types of cilia - motile and non-motile or primary cilia. Lack of proper functioning of cilia and flagella can cause several problems in human beings. For example,. Share this comparison:. If you read this far, you should follow us:. Diffen LLC, n. All I would say is that eukaryotic flagella and bacterial flagella are two totally different entities that cannot be compared.

Eukaryotic flagella are composed of tubulin proteins. Bacterial flagella are composed of the protein flagellin. Other than that, this was of much use to compare the two in my essay.

Cilia and Flagella. Comparison chart Cilia versus Flagella comparison chart Cilia Flagella Definition Cilia are short, hair like appendages extending from the surface of a living cell. Flagella are long, threadlike appendages on the surface of a living cell. Cross section Nexin arm present. Nexin arm absent.

From Latin word for eyelash.