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Glite Dictionary
🧑‍🦱 A hair 🦠 Cell hair
pilus

pilus

9.9
A thin hairlike part on some cells that helps them stick to surfaces or pass DNA
  • noun
  • /ˈpaɪləs/
  • Specialized
translation icon : pili
  • The bacterium uses a pilus to attach itself to the surface of host cells.

Examples

  • The Csu system extrudes a type I chaperone-usher pilus that is essential for the formation and maintenance of biofilms on abiotic surfaces, which may contribute to persistence in hospital environments.

    Academic text (2018)

  • The pilus plays a crucial role in helping microorganisms adhere to surfaces.

  • Scientists studied the pilus of the bacteria to understand how they transfer genetic material.

Surface Forms

pilus singular
pili plural

Etymology

Pilus comes from Latin pilus, meaning 'hair'. Scientists use pilus with the plural pili to name a thin hairlike part on some cells that helps bacteria stick to surfaces or pass DNA to other cells.