Basal Body Protein TbSAF1 Is Required for Microtubule Quartet Anchorage to the Basal Bodies in Trypanosoma brucei

Abstract

Trypanosoma brucei contains a large array of single-copied organelles and structures. Through extensive interorganelle connections, these structures replicate and divide following a strict temporal and spatial order. A microtubule quartet (MtQ) originates from the basal bodies and extends toward the anterior end of the cell, stringing several cytoskeletal structures together along its path. In this study, we examined the interaction network of TbSpef1, the only protein specifically located to the MtQ. We identified an interaction between TbSpef1 and a basal body protein TbSAF1, which is required for MtQ anchorage to the basal bodies. This study thus provides the first molecular description of MtQ association with the basal bodies, since the discovery of this association ∼30 years ago. The results also reveal a general mechanism of the evolutionarily conserved Spef1/CLAMP, which achieves specific cellular functions via their conserved microtubule functions and their diverse molecular interaction networks.