The consequence of ATP synthase dimer angle on mitochondrial morphology studied by cryo-electron tomography

Mitochondrial ATP synthases form rows of dimers, which induce membrane curvature to give cristae their characteristic lamellar or tubular morphology. The angle formed between the central stalks of ATP synthase dimers varies between species. Using cryo-electron tomography and sub-tomogram averaging, we determined the structure of the ATP synthase dimer from the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans and show that the dimer angle differs from previously determined structures. The consequences of this species-specific difference at the dimer interface were investigated by comparing C. elegans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae mitochondrial morphology. We reveal that C. elegans has a larger ATP synthase dimer angle with more lamellar (flatter) cristae when compared with yeast. The underlying cause of this difference was investigated by generating an atomic model of the C. elegans ATP synthase dimer by homology modelling. A comparison of our C. elegans model to an existing S. cerevisiae structure reveals the presence of extensions and rearrangements in C. elegans subunits associated with maintaining the dimer interface. We speculate that increasing dimer angles could provide an advantage for species that inhabit variable-oxygen environments by forming flatter, more energetically efficient cristae.