Cryo-electron tomography and 3-D analysis of the intact flagellum in Trypanosoma brucei

Journal article

Trypanosoma brucei is a uni-cellular protist that causes African sleeping sickness. These parasites have a flagellum that is attached to the cell body and is indispensible for its motility. The flagellum consists of a canonical 9+2 axoneme and a paraflagellar rod (PFR), an intricate tripartite, fibrous structure that is connected to the axoneme. In this paper we describe results from cryo-electron tomography of unperturbed flagella. This method revealed novel structures that are likely involved in attaching the flagellum to the cell. We also show the first cryo-electron tomographic images of a basal body in situ, revealing electron dense structures inside its triplet microtubules. Sub-tomogram averaging of the PFR revealed that its distal region is organized as an orthorhombic crystal.

Authors: Höög, J; Bouchet-Marquis, C; McIntosh, JR; Hoenger, A; Gull, K

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Journal: Journal of structural biology
• Volume: 178
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 189-198
• Publication date: 2012-05-01
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jsb.2012.01.009
• EISSN: 1095-8657
• ISSN: 1047-8477
• Language: English
• Keywords: Frozen Sections; Trypanosoma brucei brucei; Cryoelectron Microscopy; Flagella; Electron Microscope Tomography