Structure and in situ organisation of the Pyrococcus furiosus archaellum machinery
Bertram Daum Is a corresponding author Janet Vonck Annett Bellack Paushali Chaudhury Robert Reichelt Sonja-Verena Albers Reinhard Rachel Werner Kühlbrandt
Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, Germany University of Exeter, United Kingdom University of Regensburg, Germany University of Freiburg, Germany
RESEARCH ARTICLE Jun 27, 2017
Left: 3-D view of a Pyrococcus furiosus cell obtained by electron cryo-tomograpy . Right: Composite CryoEM structure of the archaellum machinery.
Abstract
The archaellum is the macromolecular machinery that Archaea use for propulsion or surface adhesion, enabling them to proliferate and invade new territories. The molecular composition of the archaellum and of the motor that drives it appears to be entirely distinct from that of the functionally equivalent bacterial flagellum and flagellar motor. Yet, the structure of the archaellum machinery is scarcely known. Using combined modes of electron cryo-microscopy (cryoEM), we have solved the structure of the Pyrococ cus furiosus archaellum filament a t 4.2 Å resolution and visualise the architecture and organisation of its motor complex in situ. This allows us to build a structural model combining the archaellum and its motor complex, paving the way to a molecular understanding of archaeal swimming motion.
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