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- Title
Three-dimensional structure of basal body triplet revealed by electron cryo-tomography.
- Authors
Li, Sam; Fernandez, Jose-Jesus; Marshall, Wallace F; Agard, David A
- Abstract
Basal bodies and centrioles play central roles in microtubule (MT)-organizing centres within many eukaryotes. They share a barrel-shaped cylindrical structure composed of nine MT triplet blades. Here, we report the structure of the basal body triplet at 33 Å resolution obtained by electron cryo-tomography and 3D subtomogram averaging. By fitting the atomic structure of tubulin into the EM density, we built a pseudo-atomic model of the tubulin protofilaments at the core of the triplet. The 3D density map reveals additional densities that represent non-tubulin proteins attached to the triplet, including a large inner circular structure in the basal body lumen, which functions as a scaffold to stabilize the entire basal body barrel. We found clear longitudinal structural variations along the basal body, suggesting a sequential and coordinated assembly mechanism. We propose a model in which δ-tubulin and other components participate in the assembly of the basal body.
- Publication
The EMBO journal, 2012, Vol 31, Issue 3, p552
- ISSN
1460-2075
- Publication type
Journal Article
- DOI
10.1038/emboj.2011.460