Spiroplasma fibrils.

Spiroplasmas contain long flexuous fibrils composed of a protein, molecular weight 55,000, which is specific to Spiroplasma and is highly conserved among different species. The protein cannot be detected in other wall-less prokaryotes reported to contain actin-like proteins and is unrelated to eukaryotic cytoskeletal components. Fibrils occur in similar concentrations in helical and nonhelical strains of Spiroplasma citri. Proposals that fibrils are responsible for maintenance of helical cell shape and rotary motility are discussed in the light of these findings. Evidence is presented which suggests that fibrils may be arrayed as one or more bundles in intact cells and a consistent association of these structures with DNA filaments is noted. These observations are discussed in relation to possible models to account for the maintenance of helical morphology and to the segregation of chromosomes during cell division.