Patterns of ciliary beating
Sleigh, M.A.
Symposia of the Society for Experimental Biology 22: 131-150
1968
ISSN/ISBN: 0081-1386 PMID: 4972207 Document Number: 3116
The cycles of beat of cilia which take part in metachronal waves are all of the same general type-the duration of the recovery phase is longer than that of the effective phase and the rest position is at the beginning of the effective stroke. Solitary cilia are much more variable; they may have a very slow effective stroke and may rest at other parts of the cycle, e.g. during or at the end of the effective stroke. These features are clearly seen in the graphs and the table which summarize the quantitative data obtained from the various types of cilium. A hypothesis based upon the sliding of peripheral fibril doublets along one another is advanced to explain the observed movements of cilia and flagella. According to this theory, the formation of new links at the arms on the peripheral doublets produces the force which causes movement. During the effective stroke new links could be formed throughout the length and diameter of the ciliary shaft and could exert longitudinal forces acting at the ciliary base to bend the cilium as the ciliary fibrils slide along one another. The bend travels up the cilium during the recovery stroke, and the fibrils must slide back to the original position, forming new links again in the region of the bend. Flagella could be bent in a comparable manner.
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