Fig. 9

Changes of inner membrane morphology and ATP synthase dimers in ageing mitochondria. Tomographic volumes of mitochondria isolated from young (6-day-old) (a) and ageing (13-day-old) (b) cultures of the model organism Podospora anserina. In young mitochondria, the ATP synthase dimers are arranged in rows along highly curved inner membrane ridges (Movie S2). In ageing mitochondria, the cristae recede into the boundary membrane, with ATP synthases dimer rows along the shallow inner membrane ridges. Outer membrane, transparent grey; inner membrane, light blue. ATP synthase F₁ heads are shown as yellow spheres. c Side and top views (left and centre) of subtomogram-averaged ATP synthase dimers from 6-day-old (top row), 9-day-old (centre), and 15-day-old P. anserina mitochondria. Right: subtomogram averages with fitted X-ray models. Red lines, convex membrane curvature (as seen from the matrix); blue lines, concave membrane curvature. (Adapted from [56])