Zernike phase contrast cryo-electron tomography of sodium-driven flagellar hook-basal bodies from Vibrio alginolyticus.
Vibrio alginolyticus use flagella to swim. A flagellum consists of a filament, hook and basal body. The basal body is made up of a rod and several ring structures. This study investigates the structure of the T ring which is a unique component of the V. alginolyticus sodium ion-driven flagellar basal body. Using Zernike phase contrast (ZPC) cryo-electron tomography, we compared the 3D structures of purified hook-basal bodies (HBB) from a wild-type strain (KK148) and a deletion mutant lacking MotX and MotY (TH3), which are thought to form the T ring. ZPC images of HBBs had highly improved signal-to-noise ratio compared to conventional phase contrast images. We observed the outline of the HBBs from strains KK148 and TH3, and the TH3 mutant was missing its T ring. In the wild-type strain, the T ring was beneath the LP ring and seemed to form a ring shape with diameter of 32 nm.
Hosogi
Naoki
N
Okazaki Institute for Integrative Bioscience, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, 5-1 Higashiyama, Myodaiji-cho, Okazaki 444-8787, Japan.
Shigematsu
Hideki
H
Terashima
Hiroyuki
H
Homma
Michio
M
Nagayama
Kuniaki
K
D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D020285:Cryoelectron Microscopy / Q000379:methods*; D055032:Electron Microscope Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D005407:Flagella / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D017353:Gene Deletion; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D008858:Microscopy, Phase-Contrast / Q000379:methods*; D014733:Vibrio / Q000166:cytology* / Q000235:genetics
D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; C089633:MotX protein, bacteria; C088135:MotY protein, Vibrio