Organization of interdoublet links in tetrahymena cilia

Ciliary axonemes from Tetrahymena extracted by KCl to remove the dynein arms reveal an orderly array of interdoublet links connecting adjacent A‐B or A‐A subfibers. The links repeat every 96 nm at a stable site on the A subfiber positioned near the bases of radial spokes 2 and 3. Both links and radial spokes are in lateral register across the nine successive doublets of unbent axonemes. In contrast, bent axonemes or those reactivated by ATP to undergo partial sliding disintegration exhibit systematic displacement of the interdoublet links. The links show no evidence of having elastic or other extendable properties and, therefore, must have undergone intermittent attachment with nonstructural binding sites on the adjacent subfiber. These observations suggest a more dynamic role for the interdoublet links in ciliary motion than previously has been envisioned.