Paramecium tetraurelia basal body unit isolation for Cryo-electron tomography studies

Objective The Transition Zone (TZ) is defined as the most proximal region of the cilium overlapping with the most distal region of the basal body. This zone has been shown to play a crucial role in cilia biology since it is considered as the site of sorting of proteins that transit to cilia. Protein complexes housed at this zone are found mutated in MKS/NPHP ciliopathies. Although its organization varies from organism to organism, the TZ molecular composition and function are highly conserved. In Paramecium, the TZ is well structured with three distinct plates defined as the terminal, the intermediate and the axosomal plates. In this model, structural and molecular changes of the TZ are observed as anchored basal bodies become ciliated. Therefore, Paramecium appears to be a pertinent model to study the TZ at an ultrastructural level in correlation with its functionality.