Motility

Motility is the ability of an organism to move independently, using metabolic energy. This is in contrast to mobility, which describes the ability of an object to be moved. Motility is genetically determined, but may be affected by environmental factors. For instance, muscles give animals motility but the consumption of hydrogen cyanide (the environmental factor in this case) would adversely affect muscle physiology, causing them to stiffen, leading to rigor mortis. In addition to animal locomotion, most animals are motile (some move by passive locomotion). The term applies to bacteria and other microorganisms, and to some multicellular organisms, as well as to some mechanisms of fluid flow in multicellular organs and tissue. Motile marine animals are commonly called free-swimming, and motile non-parasitic organisms are called free-living.Muscles give the ability for voluntary movement, and involuntary movement as in muscle spasms and reflexes). At the level of the muscular system, motility is a synonym for locomotion.Most sperm have a single flagellum to help them swim. The cervical, uterine, and fallopian linings of the female reproductive system play a more important role in transporting sperm to ova.The record speeds Cheetahs hold are owed in large to their muscle motility.The shoots of plants move by growing towards light. This is known as positive phototropism. The roots grow away from light. This is known as negative phototropism.Monocytes and macrophages of the immune system engulf Bacteria by extending their pseudopodia. Note that this cartoon is not an accurate representation of phagocytosis.Motility at the sub-cellular level. This depicts translation - a motile nanoscale molecular process using protein dynamics. Motility is the ability of an organism to move independently, using metabolic energy. This is in contrast to mobility, which describes the ability of an object to be moved. Motility is genetically determined, but may be affected by environmental factors. For instance, muscles give animals motility but the consumption of hydrogen cyanide (the environmental factor in this case) would adversely affect muscle physiology, causing them to stiffen, leading to rigor mortis. In addition to animal locomotion, most animals are motile (some move by passive locomotion). The term applies to bacteria and other microorganisms, and to some multicellular organisms, as well as to some mechanisms of fluid flow in multicellular organs and tissue. Motile marine animals are commonly called free-swimming, and motile non-parasitic organisms are called free-living. Motility also refers to an organism's ability to move food through its digestive tract. There are two types of intestinal motility – peristalsis and segmentation. This motility is brought about by the contraction of smooth muscles in the gastrointestinal tract which mix the luminal contents with various secretions (segmentation) and move contents through the digestive tract from the mouth to the anus (peristalsis).