Can anyone describe the role of motor molecules in cilia and flagella?

Question

anonymous · Answer

motor = movement, enables movement.

anonymous · Answer

First of all, cilia and flagella have the same internal structure. They look kinda like this in cross section: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Eukaryotic_flagellum.svg The Dynein Arms (attached to an A tubule) interact with the B tubule of the next doublet. The mechanism is somewhat similar to that used by Actin/Myosin in the muscles: the little arms attach and pull the next double up/down (I'm not sure which), so you get doublets of microtubules sliding against each other. But... since the microtubules are all connected via Radial Spokes and Nexin, this sliding movement actually makes the whole thing bend.

anonymous · Answer

MotA & MotB are the major motor proteins. Mot channel is connected to FliG, using this connection energy transduction is occurring which results in flagellar motion.

anonymous · Answer

Just to clarify what @JN said, he/she is talking about bacterial flagella, whereas I was focusing on eukaryotic flagella/cilia. Even though the word "flagella" is used for both types organism, the structures are completely different. In addition to the structural differences that we mentioned, bacterial flagella are extracellular (they protrude out of the cell) and are driven by a motor at the base, whereas eukaryotic flagella (and cilia) are intracellular (they have a membrane around them so are technically inside the cell) and can bend at any point because they've got motor proteins all along their length. The base of an eukaryotic flagella really just anchors it in the cell, as far as I know.