ciliary pocket membrane

GO:0020018 · Membrane organelle · Membrane · Proposed

That part of the plasma membrane found in the ciliary pocket (also called flagellar pocket). [GO:0020018]

Synonyms: cilial pocket membrane; cilium pocket membrane; flagellar pocket membrane

Part of: flagellar pocket (GO:0020016)

Components

Component	Type	Part of / acts on	Grounding	Genes	Stoichiometry	Essential	Role
ciliary pocket lipid bilayer	Lipid	part of	Reviewed label only (reviewed name; no accession asserted)			ESSENTIAL	Lipid-bilayer constituent of the plasma-membrane domain that lines the flagellar pocket invagination. `GO:0020018` GO:0020018 defines the ciliary pocket membrane as the plasma-membrane portion in the ciliary or flagellar pocket. `DOI:10.1073/pnas.0909289106` Gadelha et al. 2009 studied the T. brucei flagellar pocket membrane domain and its cytoskeletal boundaries.

NCBITaxon:5691 Trypanosoma brucei — COMMON: T. brucei flagellar pockets include a specialized plasma-membrane domain whose boundaries are influenced by pocket-associated cytoskeletal features. [DOI:10.1073/pnas.0909289106]

NCBITaxon:5691 Trypanosoma brucei — African trypanosome model in which flagellar-pocket membrane domains and pocket boundaries have been analyzed. [DOI:10.1073/pnas.0909289106]

flagellar pocket membrane boundary — The ciliary pocket membrane forms the specialized plasma-membrane domain that lines the flagellar pocket invagination.
- GO:0020018 GO:0020018 identifies the ciliary pocket membrane as the plasma-membrane part found in the ciliary or flagellar pocket.
- DOI:10.1038/nrmicro2221 Field and Carrington 2009 reviewed the trypanosome flagellar pocket as a plasma-membrane invagination with a distinct membrane domain.

The ciliary pocket membrane is a specialized plasma-membrane domain that lines the flagellar pocket invagination.

Subject	Predicate	Object	Evidence
ciliary pocket lipid bilayer	contributes to	ciliary pocket membrane	`GO:0020018` GO:0020018 identifies the ciliary pocket membrane as a plasma-membrane domain.
ciliary pocket membrane	bounds	flagellar pocket	`GO:0020018` GO:0020018 defines the ciliary pocket membrane as part of the ciliary or flagellar pocket. `DOI:10.1038/nrmicro2221` Field and Carrington 2009 reviewed the membrane organization of the trypanosome flagellar pocket.

INTERPRETATION (RESOLVED): Keep the ciliary pocket membrane distinct from the whole flagellar pocket and from the cytoskeletal pocket collar. GO:0020018 denotes the specialized plasma-membrane domain lining the ciliary or flagellar pocket, GO:0020016 denotes the complete ciliary pocket invagination, and GO:1990900 denotes the collar complex at the pocket neck.
CURATION_TODO (OPEN): Resolve exact lipid classes and membrane proteins of the T. brucei flagellar pocket membrane. Gadelha et al. 2009 support the flagellar-pocket membrane domain and its cytoskeletal boundaries, but this first child-membrane record does not assign exact source-neutral lipid or protein-family groundings for the pocket membrane.

GO:0020018 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for the ciliary pocket membrane.
GO:0060170 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for the ciliary membrane.
GO:0020016 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for the containing ciliary pocket.
DOI:10.1038/nrmicro2221 Field and Carrington 2009, 'The trypanosome flagellar pocket', Nature Reviews Microbiology.
DOI:10.1073/pnas.0909289106 Gadelha et al. 2009, 'Membrane domains and flagellar pocket boundaries are influenced by the cytoskeleton in African trypanosomes', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
DOI:10.1242/jcs.045740 Lacomble et al. 2009, 'Three-dimensional cellular architecture of the flagellar pocket and associated cytoskeleton in trypanosomes revealed by electron microscope tomography', Journal of Cell Science.
DOI:10.1016/j.pt.2020.11.005 Halliday and Sunter 2021, 'Trypanosomatid Flagellar Pocket from Structure to Function', Trends in Parasitology.

2026-09-30T02:23:15Z codex · CREATED_RECORD — Scaffolded by scripts/new_record.py
2026-09-30T02:24:36Z codex · EXPANDED_RECORD — Added GO synonymy, ciliary-membrane parentage, flagellar-pocket parthood, a reviewed-label-only lipid-bilayer constituent, Trypanosoma scope and canonical example, a membrane-boundary function, GO/DOI evidence, a nonmechanistic topology graph, and boundary and molecular-inventory discussions.