CryoEM structure of the Methanospirillum hungatei archaellum reveals structural features distinct from the bacterial flagellum and type IV pilus.

ABSTRACT: Archaea use flagella known as archaella-distinct both in protein composition and structure from bacterial flagella-to drive cell motility, but the structural basis of this function is unknown. Here, we report an atomic model of the archaella, based on the cryo electron microscopy (cryoEM) structure of the Methanospirillum hungatei archaellum at 3.4 Å resolution. Each archaellum contains ∼61,500 archaellin subunits organized into a curved helix with a diameter of 10 nm and average length of 10,000 nm. The tadpole-shaped archaellin monomer has two domains, a β-barrel domain and a long, mildly kinked α-helix tail. Our structure reveals multiple post-translational modifications to the archaella, including six O-linked glycans and an unusual N-linked modification. The extensive interactions amo

SUBMITTER: Poweleit N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5695567 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature