3D Architecture of the Trypanosoma brucei Flagella Connector, a Mobile Transmembrane Junction
Fig 6
Chemical fixation reveals a novel filament inside the old flagellum at the FC.
A) A 10 nm thick tomographic slice showing a long filamentous structure (blue arrows), the FC fibre, positioned close to the flagellar membrane, the old flagellum plate and the axoneme of the old flagellum. B) A 5 nm thick slice of the fibre reveals its non-hollow nature C) When rotated so as to display the axoneme in cross-section, it shows the FC fibre (blue arrow) located off-center from the FC and not within the closest distance between the FC and the axoneme. D) A 3D model of the old flagellum’s spatial relationship to the FC fibre shows its location between microtubule doublets 7–8. E) The FC fibre was ~900 nm long and extends beyond the FC in both the flagellum distal and proximal direction. The dotted line indicates that the FC left the reconstructed volume and therefore extended further than shown in the 3D model of the region. F) A tomographic slice showing the connections (white arrows) between the FC fibre and the old flagellum FC layer. G) Only a few connections (white arrow) were found between the FC fibre and the doublet microtubules (orange arrow).