Motility is the ability of an organism to move independently by using metabolic energy. This biological concept encompasses movement at various levels, from whole organisms to cells and subcellular components.
Motility is observed in animals, microorganisms, and even some plant structures, playing crucial roles in activities such as foraging, reproduction, and cellular functions. It is genetically determined but can be influenced by environmental factors.
The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all forms of life or organisms. The term comes from the Latin word cellula meaning 'small room'. A biological cell basically consists of a semipermeable cell membrane enclosing cytoplasm that contains genetic material. Most cells are only visible under a microscope. Except for highly-differentiated cell types (examples include red blood cells and gametes) most cells are capable of replication, and protein synthesis. Some types of cell are motile. Cells emerged on Earth about four billion years ago.
All organisms are grouped into prokaryotes, and eukaryotes. Prokaryotes are single-celled, and include archaea, and bacteria. Eukaryotes can be single-celled or multicellular, and include protists, plants, animals, most types of fungi, and some species of algae. All multicellular organisms are made up of many different types of cell. The diploid cells that make up the body of a plant or animal are known as somatic cells, and in animals excludes the haploid gametes.
An axostyle is a sheet of microtubules found in certain protists. It arises from the bases of the flagella, sometimes projecting beyond the end of the cell, and is often flexible or contractile, and so may be involved in movement and provides support for the cell. Axostyles originate in association with a flagellar microtubular root and occur in two groups, the oxymonads and parabasalids; they have different structures and are not homologous. Within trichomonads the axostyle has been theorised to participate in locomotion and cell adhesion, but also karyokinesis during cell division.