Axopodium

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Thin processes (a few microns in diameter but up to 500 microns long), supported by complex arrays of microtubules, that radiate from the bodies of radiolarians and various other cells. Each axopod is composed of a core of microtubules, the axial rod, which arises in the medulla, and a thin covering of cytoplasm enclosed in the cell membrane. An axopod which comes in contact with a food item quickly retracts, and the item is phagocytosed.

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