Explain the term Microfilaments ?
Microfilaments are fine fibrils, only 7 nm in diameter, composed of a protein called actin. Actin is one of the two major proteins involved in muscle contraction. Energy for muscle movement is provided by interaction of actin with myosin, another protein also found in muscle, and the breakdown of ATP (adenosine triphosphate).
In eukaryotic cells, microfilaments are responsible for cell locomotion, cell division, amoeboid movement, and cytoplasmic streaming.
Cytoplasmic streaming is a continuous or back-and-forth movement of cytoplasm that is thought to circulate oxygen and nutrients, remove wastes in large cells, and to shift cell contents in association with amoeboid movement.