Pili, Sex

Filamentous or elongated proteinaceous structures which extend from the cell surface in gram-negative bacteria that contain certain types of conjugative plasmid. These pili are the organs associated with genetic transfer and have essential roles in conjugation. Normally, only one or a few pili occur on a given donor cell. (From Singleton and Sainsbury, Dictionary of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, 2d ed, p675) This preferred use of pili refers to the sexual appendage, to be distinguished from bacterial fimbriae (FIMBRIAE, BACTERIAL), also known as common pili, which are usually concerned with adhesion.

Year introduced: 1995

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Tree Number(s): A11.284.180.690, A20.867

MeSH Unique ID: D018933

Entry Terms:

• Sex Pili
• Conjugative Pili
• Conjugative Pilus
• Pilus, Conjugative
• Pili, Conjugative
• Sex Pilus
• Pilus, Sex

Previous Indexing:

• Fimbriae, Bacterial (1980-1994)
• specific bacteria/cytology (1969-1974)
• specific bacteria/ultrastructure (1975-1979)

See Also:

• Conjugation, Genetic

All MeSH Categories
Anatomy Category
Cells
Cellular Structures
Cell Surface Extensions
Pili, Sex

All MeSH Categories
Anatomy Category
Bacterial Structures
Pili, Sex