AbstractInternal Ca2+ levels control the pattern of ciliary and flagellar beating in eukaryotes. In ciliates, ciliary reversal is induced by a rise in intra‐ciliary Ca2+, but the mechanism by which Ca2+ induces reversal is not known. We injected the fluorescent Ca2+ indicator Calcium Green into a ciliate Didinium nasutum and observed the intra‐ciliary Ca2+ level during the initial reversed stroke preceding spontaneous cyclic reversed beating. In D. nasutum, Ca2+ rose throughout the length of the cilia undergoing initial reversed stroke. Electron microscopy with a combined oxalate‐pyroantimonate method showed Ca2+ deposits distributed throughout the reversed cilia. We injected caged Ca2+ into D. nasutum and irradiated the base or mid region of the cilia with UV to locally increase Ca2+ concentration. Uncaging Ca2+ in the middle of the cilia produced reversal distally, but not proximally to the site of Ca2+ release. These results strongly suggest that not only Ca2+ influx sites, but also Ca2+ binding sites and vectoral bending machineries for ciliary reversal, are distributed throughout the cilium. Cell Motil. Cytoskeleton 57:197–206, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.