ciliary membrane

GO:0060170 · Appendage · Membrane · Proposed

The portion of the plasma membrane surrounding a cilium. [GO:0060170]

Synonyms: cilial membrane; cilium membrane; flagellar membrane; flagellum membrane

Part of: cilium (GO:0005929)

Components

Component	Type	Part of / acts on	Grounding	Genes	Stoichiometry	Essential	Role
ciliary membrane lipid bilayer	Lipid	part of	Reviewed label only (reviewed name; no accession asserted)			ESSENTIAL	Lipid-bilayer constituent of the plasma-membrane extension that surrounds the cilium. `GO:0060170` GO:0060170 defines the ciliary membrane as the plasma-membrane portion surrounding a cilium. `DOI:10.1016/j.cub.2018.03.010` Garcia et al. 2018 reviewed the ciliary membrane as a specialized membrane domain that contains selected lipids and proteins.
ciliary membrane proteins	Protein	part of	Reviewed label only (reviewed name; no accession asserted)			UNKNOWN	Membrane proteins that localize to the ciliary membrane for signaling, trafficking, and cilium function. `DOI:10.1083/jcb.200504008` Pazour et al. 2005 identified predicted membrane proteins in purified Chlamydomonas flagella. `DOI:10.1016/j.cub.2018.03.010` Garcia et al. 2018 reviewed ciliary membrane proteins and lipids as sorted constituents of the ciliary signaling surface.

NCBITaxon:3055 Chlamydomonas reinhardtii — COMMON: Chlamydomonas cells bear paired membrane-bounded eukaryotic flagella whose purified proteome includes predicted membrane proteins. [DOI:10.1083/jcb.200504008]

NCBITaxon:3055 Chlamydomonas reinhardtii — Green-algal model used by Dentler 2013 to study ciliary membrane growth during flagellar regeneration. [DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0053366]

cilium assembly GO:0060271 — The ciliary membrane expands with the Chlamydomonas axoneme and membrane supply helps constrain flagellar growth and length.
- DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0053366 Dentler 2013 analyzed the role of membrane availability in regulating Chlamydomonas flagellar length.

The ciliary membrane is a specialized plasma-membrane domain that surrounds the cilium and carries sorted ciliary membrane proteins.

Subject	Predicate	Object	Evidence
ciliary membrane lipid bilayer	is lipid phase of	ciliary membrane	`GO:0060170` GO:0060170 identifies the ciliary membrane as a plasma-membrane portion. `DOI:10.1016/j.cub.2018.03.010` Garcia et al. 2018 reviewed organization of ciliary membrane lipids and proteins.
ciliary membrane	bounds	cilium	`GO:0060170` GO:0060170 defines this membrane as the plasma-membrane portion surrounding a cilium and relates it as bounding layer of the cilium.
ciliary membrane proteins	localize to	ciliary membrane	`DOI:10.1083/jcb.200504008` Pazour et al. 2005 found predicted membrane proteins in purified Chlamydomonas flagella.
ciliary membrane	expands during	cilium assembly	`DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0053366` Dentler 2013 analyzed membrane growth during Chlamydomonas flagellar assembly and length regulation.

CURATION_TODO (OPEN): Resolve exact conserved lipid classes and protein families that should replace the label-only ciliary membrane lipid and protein aggregates. The membrane record needs cilium-specific lipid and protein curation across taxa; this first pass keeps those sets aggregate to avoid overclaiming exact conserved constituents.

GO:0060170 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for the ciliary membrane.
GO:0031253 Gene Ontology cellular-component parent term for cell projection membrane.
GO:0098588 Gene Ontology cellular-component parent term for bounding membrane of organelle.
GO:0005929 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for the cilium.
GO:0060271 Gene Ontology biological-process term for cilium assembly.
DOI:10.1083/jcb.200504008 Pazour et al. 2005, Proteomic analysis of a eukaryotic cilium, Journal of Cell Biology.
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0053366 Dentler 2013, A Role for the Membrane in Regulating Chlamydomonas Flagellar Length, PLOS ONE.
DOI:10.1016/j.cub.2018.03.010 Garcia et al. 2018, How the Ciliary Membrane Is Organized Inside-Out to Communicate Outside-In, Current Biology.

2026-09-15T13:36:30Z codex · CREATED_RECORD — Scaffolded by scripts/new_record.py
2026-09-15T13:37:07Z codex · EXPANDED_RECORD — Added GO parentage, cilium parthood, GO synonymy, reviewed label-only lipid and protein components, Chlamydomonas scope, cilium-assembly function, DOI evidence, a nonmechanistic membrane-boundary graph, and a molecular-inventory TODO.
2026-09-15T13:37:43Z codex · REFINED_EVIDENCE_SCOPE — Tightened Chlamydomonas example notes to avoid implying that Pazour et al. purified isolated ciliary membranes rather than whole flagella.
2026-09-15T13:38:43Z codex · FIX_CITATION_AUTHOR — Corrected notes for DOI:10.1016/j.cub.2018.03.010 from Garcia-Gonzalo et al. to Garcia et al. after Crossref DOI metadata verification.
2026-09-15T13:46:56Z codex · REVIEW_FIXES — Resolved PR #980 review issues #981 and #982 by narrowing the Dentler-backed Chlamydomonas canonical example and retuning the lipid-bilayer graph edge to reviewed-label-only scope.