A Tomographic reconstruction of an M. smithii cell producing EVs. The central panel shows a segmented, surface-rendering display of the reconstructed tomogram of an M. smithii cell producing EVs. The reconstruction displays the following cellular components: membrane (purple blue), cell wall (purple), EVs (light blue), storage granule-like structure (yellow). Panels i and ii exhibit EVs trapped in pockets between the cytoplasmic membrane and the archaeal peptidoglycan. Panel iii displays different tilts of a region in the cell where the peptidoglycan is locally disrupted, with the opening coinciding with the protrusion of the cell membrane and the presence of EVs outside of the cell. The upper images in panels i, ii and iii display distinct slices from the reconstructed tomogram. Colored arrowheads point to different structural components: light blue for EVs, blue for the cytoplasmic membrane, pink for the peptidoglycan, and red for local openings in the cell wall. Scale bars, 50 nm. Two M. smithii cells were visualized producing EVs.
