Objective: The purpose of reconstructing the architecture of the cell, and most especially of the flagellar apparatus, is two fold.

- It improves our understanding of how the cell works

- It is a critical step in establishing the homologies among various components of the cell (some criteria for homology are that components have the same composition or the same positional relationships). Understanding homologies underpins understanding evolutionary history and phylogenetically informed classification.

• Methods
• Root maps
• Comparisons of various flagellar roots
• Comparisons of various ciliary roots
• Terminology for flagellar systems

The documents that are linked to this page are currently limited to reconstructing the flagellar apparatus. This organelle has many component parts, and as a result is very informative. However, sometimes it is somewhat of a challenge to develop a sense of the architecture of this organelle and its relationship with other parts of the cell. This task is sometimes referred to an 'absolute configuration' study. It requires a full understanding of the position and orientation of the organelle in the cell.