Resurrection of the flagellar rotary motor near zero load.

ABSTRACT: Flagellated bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, are propelled by helical flagellar filaments, each driven at its base by a reversible rotary motor, powered by a transmembrane proton flux. Torque is generated by the interaction of stator proteins, MotA and MotB, with a rotor protein FliG. The physiology of the motor has been studied extensively in the regime of relatively high load and low speed, where it appears to operate close to thermodynamic equilibrium. Here, we describe an assay that allows systematic study of the motor near zero load, where proton translocation and movement of mechanical components are rate limiting. Sixty-nanometer-diameter gold spheres were attached to hooks of cells lacking flagellar filaments, and light scattered from a sphere was monitored at the image plane of

SUBMITTER: Yuan J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2234112 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature