Freeze-etching studies on the ciliary necklace in the rat and chick

The existence of a ciliary necklace in kinocilia, atypical cilia and mature and differentiating sensory cilia is described in rat and chicken. In addition to parallel horizontally oriented rows of the ciliary necklace, irregular forms of intramembranous particle (IMP) aggregations are also described. The function of the ciliary necklace is discussed, special attention being given to the appearance of circular rows of IMP prior to the outgrowth of olfactory cilia and to the existence of dynein arms in these. Evidence is provided for the motility of olfactory cilia in the chick.