pilus

[pahy-luhs]

noun

Biology.

plural

pili 

1. a hair or hairlike structure.

Word History and Origins

Origin of pilus¹

Borrowed into English from Latin around 1955–60

Example Sentences

They observed how a phage called PP7 infects P. aeruginosa by attaching to the pilus, which then retracts and pulls the phage to the cell surface.

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Structural models show how bacteria switch from pilus extension to retraction.

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We developed small–molecular weight compounds termed mannosides that specifically inhibit the FimH type 1 pilus lectin of UPEC, which mediates bacterial colonization, invasion, and formation of recalcitrant intracellular bacterial communities in the bladder epithelium.

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As each pilus gets tugged the bacterium staggers and stumbles, moving randomly across the surface.

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Page 60 as A. verna; the pilus convex, the annulus broad and entire, Changed to pileus.

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