The Three-dimensional structure of frozen-hydrated nudaurelia capensis β virus

Author(s):  
N. H. Olson ◽  
T. S. Baker ◽  
Wu Bo Mu ◽  
J. E. Johnson ◽  
D. A. Hendry

Nudaurelia capensis β virus (NβV) is an RNA virus of the South African Pine Emperor moth, Nudaurelia cytherea capensis (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae). The NβV capsid is a T = 4 icosahedron that contains 60T = 240 subunits of the coat protein (Mr = 61,000). A three-dimensional reconstruction of the NβV capsid was previously computed from visions embedded in negative stain suspended over holes in a carbon film. We have re-examined the three-dimensional structure of NβV, using cryo-microscopy to examine the native, unstained structure of the virion and to provide a initial phasing model for high-resolution x-ray crystallographic studiesNβV was purified and prepared for cryo-microscopy as described. Micrographs were recorded ∼1 - 2 μm underfocus at a magnification of 49,000X with a total electron dose of about 1800 e-/nm2.

Author(s):  
José L. Carrascosa ◽  
José M. Valpuesta ◽  
Hisao Fujisawa

The head to tail connector of bacteriophages plays a fundamental role in the assembly of viral heads and DNA packaging. In spite of the absence of sequence homology, the structure of connectors from different viruses (T4, Ø29, T3, P22, etc) share common morphological features, that are most clearly revealed in their three-dimensional structure. We have studied the three-dimensional reconstruction of the connector protein from phage T3 (gp 8) from tilted view of two dimensional crystals obtained from this protein after cloning and purification.DNA sequences including gene 8 from phage T3 were cloned, into Bam Hl-Eco Rl sites down stream of lambda promotor PL, in the expression vector pNT45 under the control of cI857. E R204 (pNT89) cells were incubated at 42°C for 2h, harvested and resuspended in 20 mM Tris HC1 (pH 7.4), 7mM 2 mercaptoethanol, ImM EDTA. The cells were lysed by freezing and thawing in the presence of lysozyme (lmg/ml) and ligthly sonicated. The low speed supernatant was precipitated by ammonium sulfate (60% saturated) and dissolved in the original buffer to be subjected to gel nitration through Sepharose 6B, followed by phosphocellulose colum (Pll) and DEAE cellulose colum (DE52). Purified gp8 appeared at 0.3M NaCl and formed crystals when its concentration increased above 1.5 mg/ml.


2003 ◽  
Vol 185 (8) ◽  
pp. 2611-2617 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard F. Collins ◽  
Robert C. Ford ◽  
Ashraf Kitmitto ◽  
Ranveig O. Olsen ◽  
Tone Tønjum ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The PilQ secretin from the pathogenic bacterium Neisseria meningitidis is an integral outer membrane protein complex which plays a crucial role in the biogenesis of type IV pili. We present here the first three-dimensional structure of this type of secretin at 2.5-nm resolution, obtained by single-particle averaging methods applied to the purified protein complex visualized in a negative stain. In projection, the PilQ complex is circular, with a donut-like appearance. When viewed from the side it has a rounded, conical profile. The complex was demonstrated to have 12-fold rotational symmetry, and this property was used to improve the quality of the density map by symmetry averaging. The dominant feature of the structure is a cavity, 10 nm deep, within the center of the molecule. The cavity is funnel-shaped in cross section, measures 6.5 nm in diameter at the top of the complex, and tapers to a closed point, effectively blocking formation of a continuous pore through the PilQ complex. These results suggest that the complex would have to undergo a conformational change in order to accommodate an assembled pilus fiber of diameter 6.5 nm running through the outer membrane.


1996 ◽  
Vol 133 (3) ◽  
pp. 571-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
J P Schroeter ◽  
J P Bretaudiere ◽  
R L Sass ◽  
M A Goldstein

The three-dimensional structure of the vertebrate skeletal muscle Z band reflects its function as the muscle component essential for tension transmission between successive sarcomeres. We have investigated this structure as well as that of the nearby I band in a normal, unstimulated mammalian skeletal muscle by tomographic three-dimensional reconstruction from electron micrograph tilt series of sectioned tissue. The three-dimensional Z band structure consists of interdigitating axial filaments from opposite sarcomeres connected every 18 +/- 12 nm (mean +/- SD) to one to four cross-connecting Z-filaments are observed to meet the axial filaments in a fourfold symmetric arrangement. The substantial variation in the spacing between cross-connecting Z-filament to axial filament connection points suggests that the structure of the Z band is not determined solely by the arrangement of alpha-actinin to actin-binding sites along the axial filament. The cross-connecting filaments bind to or form a "relaxed interconnecting body" halfway between the axial filaments. This filamentous body is parallel to the Z band axial filaments and is observed to play an essential role in generating the small square lattice pattern seen in electron micrographs of unstimulated muscle cross sections. This structure is absent in cross section of the Z band from muscles fixed in rigor or in tetanus, suggesting that the Z band lattice must undergo dynamic rearrangement concomitant with crossbridge binding in the A band.


2003 ◽  
Vol 331 (2) ◽  
pp. 417-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
José R. Castón ◽  
Said A. Ghabrial ◽  
Daohong Jiang ◽  
Germán Rivas ◽  
Carlos Alfonso ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 370 (1666) ◽  
pp. 20140345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter B. Rosenthal

Elucidation of the structure of biological macromolecules and larger assemblies has been essential to understanding the roles they play in living processes. Methods for three-dimensional structure determination of biological assemblies from images recorded in the electron microscope were therefore a key development. In his paper published in Philosophical Transactions B in 1971, Crowther described new computational procedures applied to the first three-dimensional reconstruction of an icosahedral virus from images of virus particles preserved in negative stain. The method for determining the relative orientation of randomly oriented particles and combining their images for reconstruction exploited the high symmetry of the virus particle. Computational methods for image analysis have since been extended to include biological assemblies without symmetry. Further experimental advances, combined with image analysis, have led to the method of cryomicroscopy, which is now used by structural biologists to study the structure and dynamics of biological machines and assemblies in atomic detail. This commentary was written to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society .


Author(s):  
Robert Glaeser ◽  
Thomas Bauer ◽  
David Grano

In transmission electron microscopy, the 3-dimensional structure of an object is usually obtained in one of two ways. For objects which can be included in one specimen, as for example with elements included in freeze- dried whole mounts and examined with a high voltage microscope, stereo pairs can be obtained which exhibit the 3-D structure of the element. For objects which can not be included in one specimen, the 3-D shape is obtained by reconstruction from serial sections. However, without stereo imagery, only detail which remains constant within the thickness of the section can be used in the reconstruction; consequently, the choice is between a low resolution reconstruction using a few thick sections and a better resolution reconstruction using many thin sections, generally a tedious chore. This paper describes an approach to 3-D reconstruction which uses stereo images of serial thick sections to reconstruct an object including detail which changes within the depth of an individual thick section.


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