Canadian Medical Guide > Anatomy > Cells > Cellular Structures > Cell Surface Extensions > Fimbriae, Bacterial Terms and Definitions

Fimbriae, Bacterial

Medical Definition:	Thin, hairlike appendages, 1 to 20 microns in length and often occurring in large numbers, present on the cells of gram-negative bacteria, particularly Enterobacteriaceae and Neisseria. Unlike flagella, they do not possess motility, but being protein (pilin) in nature, they possess antigenic and hemagglutinating properties. They are of medical importance because some fimbriae mediate the attachment of bacteria to cells via adhesins (ADHESINS, BACTERIAL). Bacterial fimbriae refer to common pili, to be distinguished from the preferred use of "pili", which is confined to sex pili (PILI, SEX).
Guide Notes:	appendages of gram-neg bact; coord IM with specific bacterium (IM or NIM) if pertinent; A 11 qualif except /cytol; /genet permitted; DF: FIMBRIAE BACT
Also Called:	Bacterial Pilus
Previously Indexed:	Bacterial Proteins (1966-1979),Cell Wall (1966-1979),specific bacterium (1966-1979)

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