A motility in the eukaryotic flagellum unrelated to flagellar beating

Abstract

We report a motility in the flagella of the green alga Chlamydomonas that is unrelated to dynein-based flagellar beating. This motility, referred to as intraflagellar transport, was observed as the rapid bidirectional movement of granule-like particles along the length of the flagella. Intraflagellar transport could be experimentally separated from other, previously reported, nonbeat flagellar motilities. EM of flagella showed groups of nonvesicular, lollipop-shaped structures positioned between the outer doublet microtubules and the flagellar membrane. Movement of these complexes along the length of the flagella may be responsible for intraflagellar transport.