Definitions for "Basal body"
The base of an axoneme; a cylinder about 500 nm long that resembles a centriole; the microtubule organizing center of a cilium or a eukaryotic flagellum.
The rotary portion of a flagellum or cilium in Eukarya. The basal body consists of a compound cylinder of nine doublet microtubules. The basal body spans the cell membrane. The compound ring lies in the inner membrane and is part of the flagellar motor. The basal body also includes a rod that spans the cell wall and stabilizing rings. The basal body functions to anchor the flagellum in the cytoplasmic membrane and functions as a rotor during movement. We will, undoubtedly, be required to take all this up further in incredible detail at some other point.
Short cylindrical array of microtubules plus their associated proteins found at the base of a eucaryotic cell cilium or flagellum. Serves as a nucleation site for the growth of the axoneme. Closely similar in structure to a centriole.