This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The project will focus on group II chaperonins from the hyperthermophilic archaeon, Sulfolobus shibatae. The chaperonins in S. shibatae are composed of some of the most abundant proteins in the cells under all growth conditions. The goals of this project are to use cryo-electron microscopy to: 1)investigate if the chaperonin double rings, called "rosettasomes", are the functional form in vivo or if some higher-order structures are present; 2) characterize the higher-order structures of chaperonins to elucidate how they may function in vivo and investigate how they can be used in nanotechnology; and 3) visualize the chaperonin structures in cells before and after heat shock. In addition to investigating the structure and location of chaperonins in vivo, we will investigate chaperonin structures in association with liposomes and lipid layers. This will support our search for these chaperonins in vivo and will provide important structural information about higher-order structures of chaperonins that we have been using for applications in nanotechnology.