pilinn.
/ˈpʌɪlɪn/, U.S. /ˈpaɪlɪn/ Biochemistry.
A protein subunit from which bacterial pili or fimbriae are formed. Cf. flagellin n.
ΚΠ
1965 C. C. Brinton in Trans. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 27 1004 Pilin contains a high proportion of amino acids with hydrocarbon side chains.
1989 Nature 20 Apr. 622/1 At the same time, these bacteria can alter the nature of the pilin polypeptide subunit that makes up pili to effect pilus antigenic variation.
1999 G. Bear Darwin's Radio xvii. 91 I can make a phage that carries a gene that shuts down pilin production in the cholera. If they can make toxin, they can't make pili, and they can't adhere to mucus cells in the intestine.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, March 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1965