Abstract
BACTERIA move by rotation of a spiral flagellum1,2. The flagellar motor1 is thought to be a basal body consisting of a rod with four threaded rings localised in the cell wall and connected to the flagellum3,4. Larsen et al.4 have found that the source of energy for motility is an intermediate of oxidative phosphorylation rather than ATP. The idea that an ion gradient is the basis of bacterial movement originates from Mitchell5, and has been favoured by several authors6–8. Some indications of the direct coupling between the H+ electrochemical gradient (Δμ̄H+) and motility were obtained in our laboratory when we were studying a photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodospirillum rubrum7,9,10. We describe here experiments demonstrating that bacterial motility can be supported by enzymatically generated or artificially imposed constituents of Δμ̄H+, that is, electric potential (ΔΨ) or Δ pH.
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GLAGOLEV, A., SKULACHEV, V. The proton pump is a molecular engine of motile bacteria. Nature 272, 280–282 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1038/272280a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/272280a0
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