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Related Experiment Videos

Flagellar movement driven by proton translocation.

David F Blair1

  • 1Department of Biology, University of Utah, 257 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0840, USA. blair@bioscience.utah.edu

FEBS Letters
|June 6, 2003
PubMed
Summary
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The bacterial flagellar motor uses ion flow for rotation, likely driven by stator protein conformational changes involving proton movement and forces applied to the rotor protein FliG.

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Biophysics
  • Molecular Biology

Background:

  • The bacterial flagellar motor is a complex nanomachine enabling bacterial motility.
  • Its function is well-characterized, but the precise molecular mechanism driving rotation remains elusive.
  • Understanding this mechanism is key to deciphering bacterial movement and potential therapeutic targets.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To elucidate the molecular mechanism underlying the bacterial flagellar motor's rotary motion.
  • To investigate the role of stator proteins and ion flow in force generation.
  • To reconcile physiological and biochemical data for a unified model.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of motor physiology and function.
  • Mutational studies of flagellar motor components.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Biochemical investigations of protein interactions and dynamics.

    • Main Results:

    • Identified conformational changes in membrane-protein stator complexes as the likely driving force.
    • Demonstrated the critical role of proton transfer to an Asp residue in the MotB stator protein.
    • Established how these conformational changes generate forces transmitted to the FliG rotor protein.

    Conclusions:

    • The bacterial flagellar motor operates via proton-driven conformational changes in stator proteins.
    • This mechanism explains the coupling of ion flow to rotary motion.
    • The findings provide a framework for understanding flagellar motor function at a molecular level.