centriole

1. (biology) A barrel-shaped microtubule structure found in most animal cells, important in the process of mitosis (nuclear division).Examples: "The aster is at this period closely similar to those of Ascaris at certain periods, as figured by Boveri, and the red mass with its central group of granules corresponds exactly, I think, to Boveri's "centrosome" with its "Centralkorn" or "centriole" ("centrosphere" with its "centrosome" in Strasburger's terminology)."