X線と電子線による細菌べん毛フィラメントの構造解析

抄録

Bacterial flagellum consists of a rotary motor and a helical filament as a screw, and works for bacterial motility and taxis. The filament is built by a self-assembly process and has a polymorphic ability to be various forms of supercoils. Here, we describe a complementary use of X-ray diffraction and electron cryomicroscopy for structure analysis of this large helical complex. The structure reveals the molecular mechanism of self assembly and polymorphism.