X-ray and optical diffraction studies on the outer fibres of sea-urchin sperm tail flagella

Abstract

The outer fibres of sea-urchin sperm tail flagella have been studied by X-ray and optical diffraction methods. Both diffraction methods have demonstrated that the basic repeat distance along the outer fibre axis is 40 Å in agreement with the results of optical diffraction studies by G RIMSTONE AND K LUG (A. V. G RIMSTONE AND A. K LUG, J. Cell Sci., I (1966) 351) and X-ray diffraction studies by C OHEN et al. 9 (C. C OHEN, S. E. H ARRISON AND R. E. S TEPHENS, S. N. T IMASHEFF AND G. D. F ASMAN, Biological Macromolecules, Vol. 2, Marcel Dekker. New York, 1971). Faint layer lines on the X-ray diffraction patterns suggest that there exists a long repeat distance of 160 Å along their axis.